Leon Kroll
Frenchwoman: Portrait of a Lady from Honfleur
1922
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Leon Kroll
Frenchwoman: Portrait of a Lady from Honfleur
1922
Physical Qualities
Oil on canvas, Unframed: 24 1/8 × 20 1/8 × 5/8 in. (61.3 × 51.1 × 1.6 cm.)
Framed: 30 1/16 × 26 1/16 × 2 in. (76.4 × 66.2 × 5.1 cm.)
Credit Line
The Cone Collection, formed by Dr. Claribel Cone and Miss Etta Cone of Baltimore, Maryland
Object Number
1950.341
Leon Kroll traveled to Europe for the third time in 1923. At 39, he was a fairly successful painter, and spent much of this journey in the company of the French artists Robert (1885-1941) and Sonia Delaunay (1885-1979). During a side trip to the Normandy coast of France, Kroll painted this sensitive and revealing portrait. The name of the sitter is unknown, although he mentioned her in a letter to Etta Cone several years later. "She was a charming woman of distinction, who occupied the rest of the house in which I had an apartment in Honfleur."
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 1949; Etta Cone, Baltimore, by purchase, December 13, 1930; the artist, New York
Ronald J. McKinney, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Exhibition of Baltimore Owned Art Treasures," January 17, 1933 - March 27, 1933; exhibited as "Head of a French Girl."
Ronald J. McKinney, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Survey of American Painting," January 10, 1934 - February 28, 1934; exhibited as "Head of a French Girl."
Ronald J. McKinney, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection," May 12, 1934 - October 1, 1934.
Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, "An Exhibition of Paintings by Leon Kroll," April 25, 1935 - June 2, 1935.
Adelyn Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," June 6, 1941 - September 1, 1941; exhibited as "Portrait of a Lady."
Jay Fisher and Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "American Art 1900-1930: Paintings and Works on Paper from the Museum Collection," September 2, 1978 - October 29, 1978.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Sisters' Passion for the Arts: A Glimpse of the Cone Collection," circulated to Government House, Annapolis, September 5, 1996 - January 6, 1997.
Ronald J. McKinney, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Survey of American Painting," January 10, 1934 - February 28, 1934; exhibited as "Head of a French Girl."
Ronald J. McKinney, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Cone Collection," May 12, 1934 - October 1, 1934.
Department of Fine Arts, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, "An Exhibition of Paintings by Leon Kroll," April 25, 1935 - June 2, 1935.
Adelyn Breeskin, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," June 6, 1941 - September 1, 1941; exhibited as "Portrait of a Lady."
Jay Fisher and Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "American Art 1900-1930: Paintings and Works on Paper from the Museum Collection," September 2, 1978 - October 29, 1978.
Sona Johnston, The Baltimore Museum of Art, "Sisters' Passion for the Arts: A Glimpse of the Cone Collection," circulated to Government House, Annapolis, September 5, 1996 - January 6, 1997.
Ronald J. McKinney, "Exhibition of Baltimore Owned Art Treasures," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1933, p. 16, no. 52; listed as "Head of a French Girl."
Etta Cone, "The Cone Collection of Baltimore-Maryland," Baltimore: Etta Cone, 1934, pl. 77, ill.
Ronald J. McKinney, "A Survey of American Painting," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1934, p. 20, no. 46; exhibited as "Head of a French Girl."
"An Exhibition of Paintings by Leon Kroll," Pittsburgh: Carnegie Institute, 1935, no. 10.
Leslie Cheek, Jr., "A Century of Baltimore Collecting 1840-1940," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1941, p. 82; listed as "Portrait of a Lady."
Jane Watson Crane, "Baltimore Shows French Art," "The Washington Post," August 17, 1947, p. L5 (listed as "Head of a Girl").
Leon Kroll, "Leon Kroll A Spoken Memoir," Charlottesville, VA: University Press of Virginia for the University of Virginia Art Museum, 1983, no. 87, ill.
Brenda Richardson, "Dr. Claribel & Miss Etta: The Cone Collection of the Baltimore Museum of Art," Baltimore: The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1985, pp. 150, 183.
Sona Johnston, "Sisters' Passion for the Arts: A Glimpse of the Cone Collection," Baltimore: Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development, 1996, no. 5.
Inscribed: Recto: Lower right in black paint, "Leon Kroll 1923" Verso: Middle of top vertical stretcher in graphite, "French Lady/Madame Giroud/t" Top of right vertical stretcher in graphite, "Leon Kroll/39 W____57/67" Top of left vertical stretcher in black grease pencil, "#346" Frame Inscriptions Top horizontal rail in black grease pencil, "KROLL #345 #4 371" These inscriptions are normally covered by the frame buildup. Scratched out, "#345" In graphite, "#4"
