Karl Stauffer-Bern (Trubschachen 1857-1891 Florence)
Study for the Portrait of Federal Councillor (Bundesrat) Emil Welti
[Porträtstudie Bundesrat Emil Welti]
1887
oil on canvas, framed
63.5 x 61.5 cm
Condition: on the original stretcher, with the old nailing; paint rubbing by the frame at the edges; in very good overall condition.
Provenance:
Auction Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 20 June 2002, lot 850
private collection, Steffisburg
Exhibition History:
"'Verfluchter Kerl!' Karl Stauffer-Bern: Maler, Radierer, Plastiker," Kunstmuseum Bern, August 17 - December 2, 2007.
Publication History:
Matthias Frehner and Brigitta Vogler-Zimmerli, eds., "Verfluchter Kerl!" Karl Stauffer-Bern: Maler, Radierer, Plastiker (Zurich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2007), cat. no. 144, ill. at pg. 184.
Carl Brun, Schweizerisches Künstlerlexikon, vol. III, 1913, pag. 226, no. 78 (?)
Discussion:
Authenticity confirmed by Amalie Krähenbühl-Stauffer (born 1867), the artist's youngest sister, on 21 January 1931.
"The Welti family's connection with Karl Stauffer-Bern began in 1886 when Lydia Welti-Escher, the daughter-in-law of Federal Councillor Emil Welti (1825-1899), had her portrait painted by Stauffer-Bern. Welti had a classic political career in the canton of Aargau, becoming a member of the Council of States in 1857 and then a Federal Councillor in 1866, from which he resigned in 1891 after a political defeat. His son Friedrich Emil married Lydia Escher in 1882. The marriage ended in divorce in 1890 after Lydia's dramatic love affair with Karl Stauffer-Bern. Before that, Emil Welti still exerted his political influence: after their joint escape from Florence to Rome, Lydia Welti-Escher was committed to an insane asylum and Stauffer-Bern was brought back to Florence in chains. Karl Stauffer took his own life in January 1891, Lydia Welti-Escher in December 1891. Through her will, Lydia Escher established the beneficial 'Gottfried Keller Foundation' ['Gottfried Keller-Stiftung'] with her considerable fortune inherited from her father Alfred Escher (1819-1882)." GK
