Georg Kolbe
Portrait Mrs. Josephine Kanzler
1932 or 1936
Bronze Height 35.6 cm. Mounted on wooden base (8.9 x 23.4 x 17.6 cm) Monogrammed 'GK' (joined) on the right side, foundry mark "H. NOACK BERLIN-FRIEDENAU" on the lower back. One of presumably 4 exemplars. - Dark brown patina, partly somewhat lightened. - In fine condition.
The subject of this portrait is Josephine Kanzler (1891-1954), wife of Ernest Carlton Kanzler (1892-1967). Ernest Kanzler was initially a lawyer and then, in 1920, he became a production manager at the Ford Motor Company, where he quickly launched a successful career and climbed to the company's executive level. Edsel Bryant Ford, the son of Henry Ford, was not just a close friend but also his brother-in-law: he was married to Josephine's sister Eleanor. The Kanzler family lived in Detroit, where they were members of the city's high society.
Ernest Kanzler, whose parents were from Germany, commissioned Georg Kolbe to create this portrait bust of his wife in the 1930s. Mr and Mrs Kanzler donated one of what were presumably four casts to the Detroit Institute of Arts, which she supported as an art patron. The plaster on which the bronze casts were based can be found in the Georg-Kolbe-Museum, Berlin.
Catalogue Raisonné
Not recorded by Berger
Certificate
We would like to thank Ursel Berger, Georg-Kolbe-Museum Berlin, for kind confirmatory information