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EDITOR'S POSTSCRIPT [[image]] Falling in Love with 'The Girl'–An Oil Portrait by Duveneck By Vance H. Trimble DON'T MISTAKE ME FOR AN art critic. I don't have the qualifications. And don't pretend to. Like many of us, I have poked my inquisitive nose into a lot of art museums. Also I have kibitzed some pretty good artists at work. I can appreciate art. Strictly as a layman, I can tell a good picture from a bad one. And I have just seen one that I really like! It is, to use a completely unartistic expression, a real honey. The picture is Frank Duveneck's oil titled "Girl in Dirndil." It was painted, I would guess, in his Munich period, the 1870s. His son and daughter-in-law sent it to The Kentucky Post to be used to help finance a Frank Duveneck Art Museum in Covington. The idea has been to raffle off the painting or to sell it to an art collector. IT IS TOO BAD that I can't print the photo (at right) of the portrait in color. That, of course, is the very best aspect of the painting. In black and white, so very, very much is lost. But that's the best I can do--except try to tell you about the color. The model obviously is a young Bavarian girl. Her hair is very dark, black-brown. Her eyes are brown. The blouse is white and her traditional Bavarian weskit is medium blue. The background is a rich green. It is an unusual shade, perhaps a little olive tending toward the gray. You can readily see evidence of Duveneck's mastery in the detailing of the face--the expressive eyes, the finely developed nose and mouth. The brush strokes are fascinating. Even to this untutored eye they merit a close look. MRS. FRANK BOOTT DUVENECK (Josephine) sent "Girl in Dirndil" direct from their California home to the Cincinnati Art Museum so it could be properly framed. Experts say the correct frame is a key factor in the best showing of any portrait. So I went over to the Cincinnati Art Museum in Eden Park to have a look. Museum director Phil Adams was out of his office. But his secretary said he considers the portrait to be an exceptionally fine painting. It is on the small side, 14 by 18 inches. But its compactness takes nothing away from its rich beauty. That may even add to it. "Girl in Dirndil" was painted on stretched canvas. When the California Duvenecks had it cleaned and prepared for shipment here they had the canvas mounted on heavy board. This is a refinement not available to artists in earlier days. "GIRL" GLISTENS under a fresh coat of varnish. I stood in the Art Museum director's reception room admiring the portrait. I held it up, pressing open palms against the edges. I tried to avoid touching the beautiful surface. Perhaps that was being over-cautious. It isn't that fragile. Right about then I guess is when I fell in love with "The Girl." [[image]] GIRL IN DIRNDIL An Oil Painting by Frank Duveneck It is a lovely picture. Just looking at it does something to you. I'm not certain that I could ever stand to raffle her off. She ought to be kept for display in the Duveneck Art Museum when it is built. For surely this must be a typical--if not near-perfect--specimen of Frank Duveneck's greatest work. HOW VALUABLE a painting is it? How good is it? Those questions should be put to someone who is a painting expert, and intimately familiar with Duveneck paintings. The best man to make that appraisal would be one of the Cincinnati Art Club's grand old men--Herman H. Wessel. He knew Duveneck well. And he spent 40 years at the Cincinnati Art Museum as instructor and curator. Mr. Wessel is 88 and is retired. But he is still active and he has a sharp mind. I got him on the phone and he agreed to take a look at "Girl in Dirndil." I filled out a form in Mr. Adams' office and took "The Girl." At the museum's front door the guard looked at me rather quizzically. "I'm just stealing one of your best paintings," I said, and smiled. He didn't. So I quickly showed him my permit. He nodded toward the door. Very carefully I carried the portrait to my car to go show it to Mr. Wessel. (To Be Continued)
