By the Window, Fritz von Uhde
Fritz von Uhde
By the Window
DE
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Fritz von Uhde

By the Window, 1890 – 1891


Dimensions
80.5 x 65.5 cm
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Inventory Number
SG 632
Acquisition
Acquired in 1938
Status
Not on display

Texts

About the Work

As if looking out for someone, the seamstress leans out of the window into the open air. Although the promise of a sunny city view beckons, the tools of her trade keep her indoors. We can see the ambivalence of the new female role: on the one hand, the woman is freed from the domestic sphere by her work, but on the other, the modern working world introduces new constraints. Uhde breaks with the popular Romantic motif of the protagonist gazing melancholically out of the window at nature by referencing the everyday working routine of the seamstress and by crossing the spatial boundary.

Audio

  • Basic information
    00:44
  • Focus on Frankfurt
    01:21

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
By the Window
Painter
Period Produced
Object Type
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Material
Technique
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Signiert unten links: F v Uhde

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
Acquired in 1938

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre
Main Motif
Associated Persons and Institutions

Iconclass

Primary
  • 31D15 adult woman
  • 41A3362 human figure at (open) window, seen from inside
Secondary
  • 41A721 chair
  • 41D4413 sewing machine
  • 25I city-view, and landscape with man-made constructions

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
Fritz von Uhde
verkauft an die Kunsthandlung J.P. Schneider, Frankfurt am Main, 1895
...
Martin Flersheim (1856-1935), Frankfurt am Main, seit mindestens 1913
Nachlass Martin Flersheim, 1935
verkauft durch Fritz Mertens (Rechtsanwalt der Flersheims) an die Stadt Frankfurt am Main, 1938
Verbleib in der Sammlung nach Vereinbarung mit den Erben nach Florence Flersheim geb. Livingston (1864-1950) lt. Magistratsbeschluss vom 25. September 1950.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known:

  • the type of acquisition and/or the way the object changed hands
  • the owner's name and place of residence
  • the date on which it changed hands

The successive ownership records are separated from each other by a semicolon.

Gaps in the record of a provenance are indicated by the placeholder “…”. Unsupported information is listed in square brackets.

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Last update

25.04.2024