Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Double Portrait of the West Sisters

Carl Christian Vogel von Vogelstein
1788-1868

Double Portrait of the West Sisters

16 1/4 x 13 1/2 inches (413 x 343 mm)
Black and red chalk on paper.
2021.136

Gift of Roberta J.M. Olson and Alexander B.V. Johnson.

Notes
At the time Vogelstein executed this portrait of the sisters Mary Catherine and Elizabeth West, he was a professor at the Dresden Academy and an accomplished portraitist who specialized in incisive pencil studies. He had spent seven years in Rome with the Nazarenes, and his lucid, linear style reveals the influence of their portraits. This sheet is a rare portrayal by Vogelstein outside the Dresden Kupferstichkabinett, which holds the majority of his drawn oeuvre of over 700 portraits.
Inscriptions/Markings
Signed, inscribed, and dated "Dresden 25 April 1837", signed by both sisters.
Watermark: Fragment of J WHATMAN.
Associated names
Olson, Roberta J. M., former owner.
Johnson, Alexander B. V., former owner.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department