Beschreibung:

Louis Michel Eilshemius (American, 1864-1941) Figures Under a Bridge. Signed and dated "Eilshemius 1905" in ink l.l. Watercolor on paper, sight size 13 3/8 x 9 1/2 in., framed. Condition: Toning, not examined out of frame. Provenance: Collection of Joseph H. Hirshhorn (American, 1899-1981) financier, philanthropist, and benefactor of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, then by descent in the Hirshhorn family. N.B. Joseph Hirshhorn discovered Eilshemius's work at the Kleener Gallery in New York around 1930. He got to know the artist personally and over time purchased nearly 400 of his works. Hirshhorn's biographer, Gene Hirshhorn LePere, quoted Hirshhorn on Eilshemius, "My first big love was Elshemius [sic]. He intrigued me. I knew him. He was the most poetic, lyrical, beautiful painter in America." (1) 1. Gene Hirshhorn LePere, Little Man in a Big Hurry, The Life of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, Uranium King and Art Collector (New York: 2009, Vantage Press, Inc.), pp. 68-69.