Wach, Don't Run.

November 24, 2005 9:51 AM

Please, help me once again find the most lovely painting I've ever seen.

In May 2003, I visited The California Palace of the Legion of Honor and viewed an exhibition called Leonardo Da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland. One of the paintings I saw was a large-format (perhaps 6-8ft square) portrait of a young countess by an artist named Carl Wilhelm Wach. I don't recall the countess' name from my original visit, but subsequent Googling makes me pretty certain it was the Countess Raczynska.

I was captivated by the painting, which was nearly photo-realistic and showed the 20-something countess in a dress of deep red, sitting and posing for the portrait. I naively assumed I could find a copy or print easily, but almost 3 years of searching on-and-offline have yielded nothing. At the museum, I could have purchased the exhibition catalogue, and it's still available a few places online (ISBN 0944110959), but I didn't and don't want the catalogue unless it contains an image of this painting, which I can't confirm one way or another so far.

And so my plea: Help me see this painting again! A print, a photograph, a picture in an art book - anything will do, given how little luck I've had so far. I'm happy to spend money towards this goal, but travelling to see it exhibited again is only a distant option at best.

I've seen you MeFites pull some real miracles before - I hope this isn't beyond your collective cleverness.

posted by chudmonkey to media & arts (26 comments total)

Was this painting from Da Vinci's time? If not, then roughly when did it date from.

I am a great fan of Polish art and have several books about it. I've looked through a few and can't see his name, I've never heard of him either.

Is this it?
posted by fire&wings at 10:02 AM on November 24, 2005

fire&wings: I regret I can't answer your question about age of the painting very precisely. The exhibition, despite its name, featured only one painting by Da Vinci and of the several dozen other works, not all were neccesarily by Polish artists. I saw paintings that ranged from obvious rennaisance-era stuff to skylines/landscapes that must have been from the 1930s/40s.

Based on the the dress of the Countess and what I recall of the background (which was an interior, looked like a drawing room), I'd say it was late 1800s or early 1900s.

I'm virtually certain, for what it's worth, that the image you linked is by the same painter. It has the same realism and richness to it, but isn't the painting I'm after.
posted by chudmonkey at 11:11 AM on November 24, 2005

Well here is the guy, his dates are 1787-1845. You were spelling his name with a C rather than with a K, so you could maybe do some of the searches you did before with the correct spelling if you didn't do that before. The Artprice website have 5 images of his paintings - the quality is not great and they will cost you around 5 Euros each, but if you are desperate...

FWIW Googling "Countess Raczynska" leads to just one page of results which all seem to reference the same article. If the title is misspelled or wrong in that article (or even lacking accents or the like) then this could also trip you up.

I will have a think about this...I think buying the catalogue would be a good move. It would give you the correct title at the very least.
posted by fire&wings at 11:20 AM on November 24, 2005

Maybe this?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 11:22 AM on November 24, 2005

Well, it looks like the original exhibit was organized by the Milwaukee Art Museum. If all else fails, you might try contacting them. With any luck, the original curator of the exhibit still works there, and can help you track down a print.
posted by googly at 11:28 AM on November 24, 2005

fire&wings: FWIW, I have tried my searches with the alternate spelling. It was definitely listed as "Carl" at the exhibition (I remember thinking while I wrote it on my hand that the K would have been more appropriate to such a germanic name) but perhaps it was an anglicization or simply a mistake at the museum. Your link seems like a great resource, and I'll check it out.

weapons-grade pandemonium: I'm afraid not. In the painting I seek, the young lady is sitting.
posted by chudmonkey at 11:35 AM on November 24, 2005

If there's an academic/university art library near you, you may be able to find the catalogue from the exhibition without having to buy it, and research the painting that way. Looks like there's a fine arts library at the University of Calgary, and maybe the librarians there could help point you in the right direction.
posted by dilettante at 11:47 AM on November 24, 2005

Maybe this one?
posted by transient at 11:51 AM on November 24, 2005

dilettante: Great suggestion! I really appreciate the thought and effort you must have applied to give me a link to a facility in my own town.

transient: Sadly no, but that's another nice one.

For the benefit of anyone else looking on my behalf: in the painting, the countess is sitting, wearing a red dress and a dark brooch, and her entire body can be seen.
posted by chudmonkey at 12:31 PM on November 24, 2005

Is this the same woman? (I realize it's not the painting you are looking for, but I'm sure that there have been more than one Countess so we need to narrow it done to the proper lady.)
posted by smcniven at 12:41 PM on November 24, 2005

smcniven: I can't answer that, I'm afraid. I have a terrible memory for faces, and it's been nearly 3 years since I saw the painting. What I can say is that the countess in the painting you linked looks kind of ugly, while my memory is of a breath-takingly lovely woman. The hair-style in your painting does seem to ring a bell with me, so perhaps the subjects are in fact the same.
posted by chudmonkey at 1:40 PM on November 24, 2005

I think this might be the exhibition book.
posted by fshgrl at 1:53 PM on November 24, 2005

damn chudmonkey, I want to figure this out!!! Has anyone confirmed if the artist is German or Austrian? I don't think he's a Polish artist, but I could be wrong.
posted by smcniven at 2:00 PM on November 24, 2005

There are a whole lot of Mefites living in the area. Maybe one who frequents the museum would make an inquiry or two for you?
(I'm thousands of miles away, I'm afraid.)
posted by Count Ziggurat at 2:31 PM on November 24, 2005

It's not in the Bridgeman Art Library, and all manner of obscure stuff is in there. I am out of ideas.

If you really have been searching for this for three years, then I think now is the time to stump up the $35 and buy the catalog from Amazon. There will be precious information in there (real title, who actually owns it etc) even if the painting isn't reproduced, and you can always sell the book on if it isn't what you expect. And who knows? It may be reproduced in all its glory, and you can take it from there reproduction wise.
posted by fire&wings at 4:39 PM on November 24, 2005

There's a copy of the catalogue at the UBC library, in Vancouver. Any MeFites close to UBC with a digital camera? (It's in the Main library stacks, ND454.W53 2002.) If not, I'll be out at UBC on Saturday.
posted by russilwvong at 4:51 PM on November 24, 2005

Hey, wait a minute. Looks like the University of Calgary has a copy of the catalogue, too.
posted by russilwvong at 4:53 PM on November 24, 2005

Here's the website for the University of Calgary library. Click on "Find Books", search for "Leonardo da Vinci and the Splendor of Poland." One copy, location is 8 Lib. Tower.
posted by russilwvong at 4:56 PM on November 24, 2005

Thanks, russilwvong! Off I go to the university!
posted by chudmonkey at 6:04 PM on November 24, 2005

It's in the British Library too. I have ordered photocopied books from them before, but it's pricey and not worth it when the catalogue is in print.

According to COPAC there are copies in Oxford, Trinity College Dublin, Cambridge, King's College London, National Library of Scotland, National Library of Wales and the SAS... if anyone wants to get on those cases.
posted by fire&wings at 6:09 PM on November 24, 2005

It looks like no one has recommended the following yet:

Contact the library at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Their phone number is 415.750.7603. After being a librarian at a museum library, I know that museum libraries get these sorts of questions all the time. Explain the whole situation. They should be able to tell you whether the image is in the catalogue, where it currently is held, and even where (or if) you can obtain an image of it.

If the image is not in the catalogue, and the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco own the painting, you should be able to get a copy of the image from them. If it's not in the catalogue, but held by another museum, you can try contacting that museum to get the image from them.
posted by Uncle Glendinning at 5:37 AM on November 25, 2005

After reading this thread and searching fruitlessly myself, I'd really like to see this painting. Hopefully, if you get your hands on a copy, you'll share a link? Based on your description and on the few examples of Wach's work I was able to find online, it must be lovely.
posted by Gator at 7:45 AM on November 25, 2005

Any chance we can get an update Chudmonkey?
posted by smcniven at 11:13 AM on November 29, 2005

UPDATE: I went to my local University Library as suggested, got the book, saw the painting!

It's lovely as I remembered, but I was surprised at how much of the detail in the painting I had forgotten.

FWIW, I remembered the artist's name correctly, it was Carl with a C, and I got the countess' name right as well.

I'll be scanning the plate from the book soon, and I'll post a link as well!
posted by chudmonkey at 6:26 AM on December 1, 2005

Thank god, because I was still thinking about this a few days ago. Look forward to seeing it, please don't forget to post!
posted by fire&wings at 4:46 PM on December 1, 2005

While we're waiting for chudmonkey's scan, here's a couple images from the book, taken with a digital camera. Not super high quality--with flash, there was a lot of reflection off the page.


From the text: Portrait of Countess Anna Raczynska, 1827, 49 1/4 by 49 1/4 inches.
posted by russilwvong at 11:27 PM on March 25, 2006