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Artist or Maker: Joseph Kleitsch (1882-1931 Santa Ana, CA)
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Condition: Visual: Generally good condition. Blacklight: A dime-sized spot of touch-up with some other minor vertical touch-ups on the upper center edge with a few other minor spots in the upper right corner. A spot of touch-up to the lower center measuring .75'' x 1.5''. Minor scattered spots of touch-up along edges to address frame abrasion. AS-IS. ALL SALES FINAL.
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Medium: oil on canvas laid to canvas
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Dimensions: 33'' x 25.25''
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Provenance: Property from a Private Collection, Southern California
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Literature: Dr. P. Trenton, ''Joseph Kleitsch: A Kaleidoscope of Color'', Irvine Museum, Irvine, CA, 2007, plate 20, pp. 79-80, illustrated
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Notes: This portrait of a woman seated in a richly textured interior was executed during a period of tremendous creative growth for Kleitsch. After spending time in various American cities and abroad in Mexico, Kleitsch returned to Chicago in 1912. By the following year, he was an active member of the Palette and Chisel Club located in the Athenaeum Building, where he leased his own studio space about 1915. There he expanded his subject matter to include interior figural works full of elaborate detail, employing dramatic, controlled lighting in his compositions (Dr. P. Trenton, ''Joseph Kleitsch: A Kaleidoscope of Color'', pp. 71, 78). The sitter of the present portrait is likely Miss Irene Petrtyl, niece of the 1906 Palette & Chisel Club President, August Petrtyl, who also sat for Kleitsch. Alternatively, she may be a Lithuanian relative of the artist's second wife Edna whom Kleitsch married in 1914 (Trenton, pp. 72, 79). Dr. Trenton dates this painting to circa 1915, based in part on the interior furnishings identifying it as the Club Room of the Athenaeum Building in Chicago, and the sitter's hair style and clothes (ibid, pp. 79-80). ''The sitter's fine jewelry indicates that she is dressed for a formal occasion. The room's traditional furnishings and accessories complement the elegant formality of the rich silk crepe-de-chine dress. Tribal rugs from the Caucasus and a Navajo blanket thrown over the piano add further exoticism to the scene'' (ibid, p. 80)
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