‘Bean Ingram’ Herbert Gurschner

• An important portrait from 1928, dating from Gurschner’s New Objectivity-influenced creative phase • An enigmatic composition featuring a mask and an inscription in the artist’s own hand reflecting on the social role of the individual • Shown in 2018/19 in the exhibition ‘Magic Realism’ at the Tate Modern, London The painting ‘Bean Ingram’, created in 1928, is one of Herbert Gurschner’s most characteristic portraits from his period of engagement with New Objectivity. Born in Innsbruck, the artist studied at the Munich Academy and, through his marriage to the English aristocrat Ella Dolores Erskine in 1924, gained access to London’s social and art-collecting circles. In the years that followed, he developed into a sought-after portraitist whose works went far beyond conventional portraiture. In ‘Bean Ingram’, Gurschner combines the precise, New Objectivity style with a mysterious, symbolically charged visual language. The young woman is depicted in full face against a stylised mountain landscape, visible through a dark, frame-like window opening. The strictly composed picture composition is reminiscent of Italian Renaissance portraits, whilst the cool colour scheme and the subject’s peculiarly ethereal appearance create an almost surreal atmosphere. Particular significance is attached to the conspicuously raised hand and the mask in the foreground. The artist’s handwritten inscription explains the mask as a symbol of social pretence and lends the portrait an additional psychological dimension. The portrait thus becomes a reflection on identity, outward appearance and hidden personality. | 1901 Innsbruck – London 1975 | Moderne Kunst | Gemälde | Nummer: 26x2547 | Provenance: Bonhams, London 29.11.1995, Los 106; Im Kinsky, Wien 16.5.2006, Los 117; Privatsammlung, Wien; The George Economou Collection, Athen; Sammlung, Rheinland, seit 2020.

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