Lot 2506 Dα

This still life is the only known painting by Josephine von Miller, made when she was 18 years old.
The technically fine work testifies to the young artist's exceptional talent. Her father Josef von Miller (1869-1834) was a lawyer and member of the Bavarian royal council. He was also a passionate writer, and his daughter enjoyed a humanist and artistic education. She later achieved considerable success as a poet and essayist for the Münchner Jugendzeitschriften. As a pianist, she also made the acquaintance of numerous musicians and composers. She exchanged many letters with Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdi, and he dedicated a song to her in 1834 called “Auf Ihrem Grab, da steht eine Linde” after a poem by Heinrich Heine.
Josephine von Miller married the painter Joseph Karl Stieler in 1834 when she was 25 years old. He painted a portrait of her in the same year that, together with the present still life, was housed in the family's summer house on the Tegernsee until 2013.
Josephine von Miller captures this arrangement of roses, daffodils, pansies, tulips, ears of corn, and grasses with unusual precision and a good feel for colour.