Gouache by Hermine Faulhaber (1884-1952)

Perfect for a summer afternoon.  Refreshingly cool colors in this vintage gouache on paper painting by Hermine Faulhaber (1884-1952), well-known Austrian female artist of the early 20th century.  This painting dates to c1930.

The painting's sitter is a comfortable older woman in glasses, seated on a park bench.  She has her pooch lying under the bench, partially in shade, partially in sun. The woman has reading material on her lap but instead of reading, she is watching her dog who is watching something in the distance, out-of-frame.  A  large purse, looking like a Gladstone or a doctor's bag, is on the bench next to the woman.

The painting is done in the artist's personal style.  It is on the flat side, like folk art. Her figures, however, are realistic and they have  presence, with emotions on their faces shown through miraculously few simple brushstrokes.  The dog's eyes sparkle with intelligence; the woman's face expresses concern and interest ~ both with minimal detail.  The leaves and pine needles of the trees are each a single brush stroke, as are the grasses and natural features within the park.   The farther back the features go in the composition, the flatter they appear.

All is in very fine condition.  Signed bottom right. Framing was cleaned up about 15 years ago; you'll see more recent framing paper on the back.    Visual image 11 3/8" X 7 3/8".  Framed piece 13 3/4" X 9 1/2".   Questions?  Email anytime.