Max LiebermannDeutschland, 1847–1935Woman with a Cat
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Los Angeles, Vereinigte Staaten
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In a quiet and contemplative moment, an elderly woman sits in a chair, holding a black cat. Against the light-filled and rather sparse setting, the bright stripes of her skirt and striking black of the cat’s fur draw our eyes to this focal point of the composition. The woman’s pose, with head bowed to the side and hands gently embracing the cat, seems to reflect an emotional bond between the two. Her body language recalls traditional European images of motherhood and even Christian depictions of Mary with her infant son Jesus. German artist Max Liebermann was indebted to the Realism movement, which emerged in the 1840s with French painters like [Gustave Courbet (1819–1877)](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/365/gustave-courbet-french-1819-1877/) and [Jean-François Millet (1814–1875)](https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/artists/581/jean-francois-millet-french-1814-1875/).
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Realism and Liebermann’s work challenged artistic tradition and conventional ideals of beauty by painting common people, rather than only the wealthy and nobility, and using a rougher painting style where brushstrokes are visible. Critics in his time called Liebermann an “apostle of ugliness” and “painter of filth” because they did not appreciate his often-somber paintings that depicted working people going about their everyday lives. However, Liebermann believed in social reform to help the disadvantaged, so throughout his career he continued to paint sympathetic portrayals of the lower classes.
J. Paul Getty Museum
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- 87.PA.6
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Im Leben von Max Liebermann
Das ganze Lebenc. 1874 – 1878
Depression and setbacks in Paris
Pressure from his parents and his own creative torments plunged Liebermann into deep depressions; few pictures were produced, and his appearances at the Paris Salons brought none of the success he hoped for. The art scene there rejected him on chauvinistic grounds, and he resolved to leave Paris for good.
summer 1876
Amsterdam: Unger, Israëls and the Hague School
In Amsterdam Liebermann met the etcher William Unger, who introduced him to Jozef Israëls and the Hague School. Professor August Allebé took him to the Portuguese Synagogue, which led the artist to reflect on his Jewish roots.
1878
First trip to Italy: Venice and Lenbach
In Venice Liebermann wanted to see works by Carpaccio and Gentile Bellini; there he met a group of Munich painters, Franz von Lenbach among them, and spent three months in their company. He then followed them to Munich, the centre of naturalistic painting in Germany.
c. 1879
Scandal over “The Twelve-Year-Old Jesus”
The painting set off a wave of outrage across the empire: the Augsburger Allgemeine wrote of “the ugliest” Jewish boy imaginable, a Bavarian state deputy denied a Jew the right to depict Jesus this way, and the court preacher Adolf Stoecker carried the antisemitic debate on in Berlin. Colleagues including Wilhelm Leibl and Friedrich August von Kaulbach rallied to his side, yet Liebermann himself painted over the figure of Jesus in response — the overpainting was discovered only in 1993.
1880–1881
Honourable mention at the Paris Salon
For the painting of the Amsterdam old men's home Liebermann became the first German to receive an honourable mention at the Paris Salon, and the Impressionist collector Léon Maître bought several of his works.
