Anna Elizabeth Klumpke (American, 1856-1942) In the Pyrenees, Southern France

Anna Elizabeth Klumpke (American, 1856-1942)

In the Pyrenees, Southern France
Signed "ANNA KLUMPKE" l.r., identified on a label from Gump Galleries, San Francisco, affixed to the frame, dated c. 1880 in family correspondence (see below).
Oil on canvas, 28 x 41 1/2 in. (71.0 x 105.0 cm), framed.
Condition: Canvas deformation, varnish discoloration, area of paint loss with flaking at l.l. edge.

Provenance: Brian Loomis (Oakland, California, d. 1942); to Estelle G. Livingston (Berkeley, California); to Charles Livingston; by family descent to the current owner.

N.B. A letter from Charles W. Livingston describes that Anna Klumpke was a student and friend of Rosa Bonheur in Paris and that this painting hung in the Louvre for a short time and was later exhibited at the St. Louis Exposition in the 1890s. The letter goes on to describe that, in a telephone conversation with the artist, Estelle Livingston learned that the artist painted this landscape as a gift for her father. The work is listed in the Smithsonian Institution "SIRIS" database.

Anna Klumpke was Rosa Bonheur's last companion and wrote the biography, Rosa Bonheur: The artist's (auto)biography, published in 1909 and republished by the University of Michigan Press in 1997 and 2001.