Lot 315 Dα

The impressive, large self-portrait of the painter hangs in the Berlin National Gallery and illustrates the outstanding position that Sabine Lepsius had as a portrait painter in Berlin at the turn of the century. She was one of the four female founding members of the Berlin Secession in 1898. After spending time abroad in Rome and Paris, she married the Berlin painter Reinhold Lepsius. The artist couple ran an open salon where Berlin society met to exchange ideas. Clients and patrons such as Walther Rathenau and Theodor Mommsen were guests. Stefan George, a close friend of Lepsius, gave readings at which Rainer Maria Rilke was also present. During the Weimar period, after the death of her husband, Sabine Lepsius was able to support herself and her three daughters with a large number of commissions for portraits. Her portraits of children in particular made her one of the most recognised painters in Berlin society. Lepsius's clients were predominantly Jewish-German families - many of these paintings are now lost or destroyed. The fruit still life in a glass bowl presented here bears witness to her lively Impressionist style.