Bildnis Dr. Wilhelm Wartmann

Wilhelm Wartmann (1882-1970), director of the Kunsthaus Zürich from 1909 to 1950. The painting was commissioned by Alfred Rütschi at the Grand Hotel Dolder following Wartmann's first major Munch exhibition in 1922. Another followed in 1932. A smaller version found its way to the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen; two preparatory oil sketches exist in the Munch Museet in Oslo.</br>This painting is a portrait of the first, long-serving Director of the Kunsthaus Zürich, Wilhelm Wartmann (1882–1970). It was commissioned by the Zurich silk manufacturer and art collector Alfred Rütschi (1868–1929). He later bequeathed it to the Kunsthaus Zürich, along with other works by Munch. As a co-founder of the Vereinigung Zürcher Kunstfreunde (patrons who acquire works to enrich the collection), he had close ties to the Kunsthaus. In summer 1922 a first, major solo exhibition of Edvard Munch was being shown here at the museum. It was on this occasion that Wartmann posed for the artist at the famous Dolder Grand Hotel in Zurich. A year later, when Munch returned to Zurich, he followed up the first version with this life-sized oil painting. The artist and his subject remained friends for many years. This relationship had an impact: further Munch exhibitions were held at the Kunsthaus Zürich in 1932 and 1952. Moreover, the Kunsthaus holds the largest collection of paintings by Munch outside Norway. Source