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Lot 110
Albert Edward Sterner(American, 1863-1946)Self-portrait in the studio
30 – 31 March 2022, 14:00 BST
London, New Bond StreetSold for £4,462.50 inc. premium
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Albert Edward Sterner (American, 1863-1946)
Self-portrait in the studio
signed and dated 'Albert Sterner/1929' (lower right)
oil on panel
54 x 45.5cm (21 1/4 x 18in).
signed and dated 'Albert Sterner/1929' (lower right)
oil on panel
54 x 45.5cm (21 1/4 x 18in).
Footnotes
Provenance
Private collection, UK.
Exhibited
Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, 1931.
Newport, The Art Association of Newport, 1932.
Rhode Island, Rhode Island School of Design Museum (date unknown).
Although Sterner established his career in America, he was born in London in 1863 and began his formal training in 1875 at the Birmingham Art Institute. In 1880 he moved with his family to Chicago where he began work, initially for a lithography studio but then also as a set painter for the Grand Opera House. Moving to New York in 1885, Sterner set up his own illustration studio and began working for various publications, including Harper's, Century, and Scribner's. Clearly not content, he moved to Paris in 1888 where he enrolled at the Académie Julian and trained under Gustave Boulanger and Jules Lefebvre. He also enrolled at the École des Beaux-Arts where he studied under Jean-Léon Gérôme. Although receiving his training from these painters, renowned for their academic and Orientalist subjects completed with fine, realistic technique, Sterner was clearly also influenced by modern art movements and modern culture, not least advertising. In 1918 Sterner returned to New York where he began teaching at the Art Students League. He continued work as an artist illustrator and throughout his career painted in a loose, almost impressionistic, style, as can be seen in the present lot. When completing commissions for posters he adopted the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles that were popular at the time. He had solo exhibitions at a number of notable institutions including the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Carnegie Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.