Franz Rederer [1889-1965]
Swiss painter and draughtsman
Self-portrait, 1939
Oil on canvas
44 x 34 inches [framed]
Signed at lower right : ‘Rederer’.

TITLES:
2023 Self-portrait

CONDITION:
Original untouched condition.

DESCRIPTION:
The painting being offered is similar to Franz Rederer [1889-1965] self portrait from the catalog cover Franz Rederer – Vom Konzert der Farbe. Kunst-Museum Ahlen, 22. August 1999 – 24. Oktober 1999 / Stadthaus Zürich, 8. November 1999 – 14. januar 2000. Hardcover – January 1, 1999.  The painter did self-portraits throughout his life.  This one is more interesting and expressive than some of the others as it exemplifies a changing point in the artist technique and career.  Rederer painted with very pale yellow but just after this date started to omit the yellow and use white and grey only.

PROVENANCE:
2023 ( David Smernoff, New Haven, CT & New York, NY ) ;
after 1939 Private collection of [unknown] ;
1939 Franz Rederer [1889-1965], the artist .

EXHIBITION:
– [none known] ;

REFERENCES:
– [none known] ;

BIOGRAPHY:
Franz Rederer (1899-1965) was a Swiss painter and draughtsman. He was born on November 7, 1899 in Zürich, Switzerland and died there on August 31, 1965. From 1913-1914, Rederer trained as a sculptor and book printer, and studied theology. In 1917-1918, he attended the School of Arts and Crafts in Zürich under painter Paul Bodmer. In 1939, Rederer became a teacher at the Escuela de Artes Plasticas in Caracas, Venezuela. From 1940 onward, he lived in the United States, first in New York and then in San Francisco. In 1946 he became a naturalized American citizen. In 1952, Rederer definitively returned to Zürich. Retrospectives of his work were held in 1999-2000 at the Kunst-Museum Ahlen and Kunsthalle Zürich.

Over the course of his career, Rederer exhibited widely, including shows at the Art Institute of Chicago (1940, 1942), California Palace of the Legion of Honor (1946), and museums in Caracas, Boston, Stockholm, Seattle, and San Francisco. He received awards including a prize at an exhibition in Caracas in 1940 and a medal from the California Palace of the Legion of Honor in 1946. His work is held in the permanent collections of several museums, including the de Young Museum in San Francisco and the National Museum in Stockholm.