Paul Beckert (1856-1922)

Portrait of a Woman – 1919

Portrait of an attractive blue-eyed woman. Pastel on paper adhered to cardboard. Signed and dated 1919.

August Paul Beckert was a German portrait and church painter. He was born on 17 December 1856 in Lichtenstein (Saxony). He was the son of a master tailor. From 1869 to 1873 he attended secondary school in Chemnitz. He then studied at the Art Academy in Dresden with Theodor Grosse, continued studying in Berlin and Stuttgart and from 11 February 1881 at the Royal Academy of Arts in Munich with Wilhelm von Lindensch the Younger, Sándor Wagner and Gyula Benczúr.

During his study trips to Italy, he visited the Pontificium Collegium Germanicum et Hungaricum in Rome, where he converted to the Catholic faith, and in 1898 and 1899 he produced two paintings for the college.

Paul Beckert married Annie Leontine von Frank in 1885, through whom he found access to the circles of the German high aristocracy. After the death of his first wife, he married Elisabeth Haenlein in 1907. On 14 June 1904 he was made a Knight of the Holy Order of Sylvester by Pope Pius X.

Paul Beckert painted mainly portraits of noble personages, as well as altarpieces and other church images. Among his most notable portraits are those of Emperor Wilhelm II and Empress Victoria Augusta, Prince Bismark, Field Marshal Moltke, Pope Pius X, the future Reich Chancellor Georg von Hertling and the painting entitled The Last Signature of Emperor Wilhelm I. Many of his works were lost during the Second World War.

Paul Becker died on 22 September 1922 during a stay at a spa in Olsberg (North Rhine-Westphalia).

Sources: Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart; Benezit; Deutsche Biographie: Wikipedia.

Artist: Paul Beckert (1856-1922).
Signed and dated in the lower left corner.
Technique: Pastel on paper.
Condition: Very good condition.
Dimensions: 44,5 x 34 cm. / 17 ½ x 13 ½ in.
Frame: 72 x 64 cm. / 28 ¼ x 25 ¼ in. Gilded and ebonised wood. Good condition.
Origin: France.