Elderly Farmer and Young Girl ("The Unequal Couple"), Wilhelm Leibl
Wilhelm Leibl
Elderly Farmer and Young Girl ("The Unequal Couple")
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Wilhelm Leibl

Elderly Farmer and Young Girl ("The Unequal Couple"), 1876 – 1877


Dimensions
75.5 x 61.5 cm
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Inventory Number
1340
Acquisition
Acquired in 1902 with means provided by Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V.
Status
On display, 1st upper level, Modern Art, room 5

Texts

About the Work

The young beauty and the ugly old man. She bears his proximity without further ado, but her posture betrays her discomfort: if he approached her even more, it would tip the balance: an opportunity to free herself from his grip. With this scene from an inn, Wilhelm Leibl makes his contribution to the tradition of representations of the ‘odd couple’. The artist is interested in playing off the different textures: the rose complexion of the girl against the weathered skin of the old man, the fabric of the basque against the reflecting surfaces of the vessels.

About the Acquisition

In 1902 the Museums-Verein, together with the administration of the museum, acquired one of the realist painter Wilhelm Leibel’s major works, ‘Elderly Farmer and Young Girl; The Unequal Couple’ from the prince of painters, Professor Franz von Defregger. The work was painted in Upper Bavaria; the clear method resulted in a two-figure painting rich in contrast and tension. The Museums-Verein, which was founded in 1899, had already sought to purchase a work by Leibl the year before – to no avail. Now the moment had come when the Munich painting – popular around the turn of the century – was to become part of the collection of the Städel in Frankfurt. The museum association covered two thirds of the buying price of 33,000 marks.

Audio

  • Basic information
    01:13
  • Focus on art history
    02:02
  • Focus on cultural history
    02:07

Work Data

Basic Information

Title
Elderly Farmer and Young Girl ("The Unequal Couple")
Painter
Period Produced
School
Object Type
Physical Description
Oil on canvas
Material
Technique
Label at the Time of Manufacture
Signiert unten links: W. Leibl.
Work Catalogues
  • Waldmann 1914, Nr. 140

Property and Acquisition

Institution
Departement
Collection
Creditline
Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main
Picture Copyright
Public Domain
Acquisition
Acquired in 1902 with means provided by Städelscher Museums-Verein e.V.

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre
Main Motif
Persons Shown
Associated Persons and Institutions

Iconclass

Primary
  • 33A711 unequal partners
  • 31D16 old man
  • 61B2(LENZ)12(+53) historical person (LENZ) - historical person (LENZ) in a double-portrait (+ half-length portrait)
  • 31D13 adolescent, young woman, maiden
  • 61BB2(STEININGER,Therese)12(+53) historical person (STEININGER,Therese) - BB - woman - historical person (STEININGER,Therese) in a double-portrait (+ half-length portrait)
  • 41D3 folk costume, regional costume
Secondary

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History
...
unbek. Kunsthandel
durch Tausch erworben von Franz von Defregger (1835-1921), München
Verkauf durch die Kunsthandlung Marcel Goldschmidt, Frankfurt am Main an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 29. Mai 1902 (erworben mit Mitteln des Städelschen Museums-Vereins e.V.).

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