John Francois Kaufman

Typographia

Origin

United States, New York

Period

1920-1949

Materials

Oil on Board

Dimensions

W.	17.5 in;	H.	11 in;
W.	44.45 cm;	H.	27.94 cm;

Condition

Excellent.

Creation Date

1925

Description

An unusual literary painting by Jean Francois Kaufman (Swiss, 1870 – 1948), Oil on Board dated 1925. This work depicts Mercury, Minerva, and an allegorical goddess entitled Typographia. The goddess is holding an inking ball and composing stick containing the word ‘Light’. The painting encompasses many mottos and literary symbols, including an artist palette and an owl, symbolizing wisdom. This small painting is possibly a ‘cartoon’ for a project of a mural to be painted in the building titled to back, 299 Madison Avenue at 41st Street, NYC, now known as Library Way. The address of 299 Madison Avenue is now the Library Hotel, lying as it does between the New York Public Library and the Morgan Library.
Jean Francois Kaufman was born on October 31st, 1870 in Uznach, in the canton of St. Gallen. He studied in the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris under Jean-Leon Gerome, the famed academician. He traveled to the United States and worked as a portrait painter and sculptor, returning to Europe later in his life. Some degree of controversy existed around his departure from these shores, with reports that he was actually tried and acquitted for heresy, after painting a copy of the Mannerist masterpiece by Paolo Veronese entitled The Marriage at Cana. Kaufman’s version depicted New York politicians surrounding Christ as a comment on Prohibition. He later served at the Conservative Academy as a conservator and art critic. Kaufman gained an honorable mention at the Salon des Artistes Francais in 1927. He died in Zurich in 1948.

Styles / Movements

Other

Dealer Reference Number

Incollect Reference Number

196307