The Record Player
Framed: 55 1/2 × 41 3/4 × 3 3/8 inches (140.97 × 106.05 × 8.57 cm)
- 129
The woman in this painting is lost in her thoughts. One strap of her undergarment has slipped from her shoulder. Red light bathes the left side of her face, shoulder, and arm. The background is dark and cavernous. No music sounds.
What could account for this ominous tone? In 1937, Adolf Hitler labeled Karl Hofer and other modern artists "degenerate." Hofer’s paintings were confiscated. He was removed from his teaching post at the Berlin University of the Arts and was forbidden to paint. In 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. World War II began. Still, Hofer painted.
Acquired from the artist, through Hermann E. Simon, by the dealer Justin K. Thannhauser, New York, stock no. 2586, by 1954 [1];
Purchased from Thannhauser by the Friends of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1954;
Their gift to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 1954.
NOTES:
[1] Zentralarchiv des Internationalen Kunsthandels, Cologne, Germany, Galleries Thannhauser Records, A077, XIX, 012, 2586. This painting was exhibited by the artist at The 1939 International Exhibition of Paintings, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, October 19-December 10, 1939, no. 260 and at the Nierendorf Gallery, March 16-April 6, 1943, no. 3.
