oil on canvas
35 3/4 x 28 inches
signed lower right
Estimate: $400 - $600
Price Realized:
$10,938
Includes buyer's premium
frame dimensions: 40 1/4 x 32 1/4 x 1 inches
From the Estate of Clara Klinghoffer
overall very good condition, medium well attached to the support, several minor scattered spots of loss
Clara Klinghoffer’s legacy is one of baffling natural talent: at only 19 years old, she held her first solo exhibition of 60 works in London. Critics immediately drew comparisons to Old Masters such as Rembrandt and Hals, dubbing Klinghoffer “the girl who could draw like Raphael.” Although she worked across mediums, the artist is most well known as an exquisite draughtsman, particularly excellent at rendering portraits. In 1981, Terrence Mullaly of The Daily Telegraph described “her obvious sensitivity towards her sisters… enforced by her ability not only to suggest weight and substance of a body, but also to convey mood.”
Klinghoffer was born in Poland in 1900 and grew up in London’s East End. In 1929, she moved to Holland with her husband and child, where they stayed for ten years before returning to London to escape Nazi occupation. The artist left many of her works behind in Holland, where they were eventually stolen. Today, her remaining works can be found in prominent museum collections such as those of the Tate Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, both located in London.
