MELA MUTER (POLISH 1876-1967) Portrait of a Boy with Geraniums oil on canvas 80 x 60 cm (31 1/2 x 23 5/8 in.) framed dimensions: 102 x 82 cm (40 1/8 x 32 1/4 in.) export stamp on verso PROVENANCE Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne (label on stretcher) LOT NOTESMela Muter was the first widely recognized Polish painter of Jewish descent. Muter spent most of her life in Paris, where she gained popularity as a portraitist, known for her brave brush strokes and bright colors influenced by post-impressionists such as Vincent Van Gogh. Following Muter's death in 1967 a retrospective of her works was shown at Galerie Gmurzynska in Cologne, at Petite Palais, Geneva and in Galarie Alber ler in Paris and later in 1994 The National Museum of Warsaw organized a retrospective of her work. Muter was features in Polish Women Artists and Avant-Garde: Voices of Freedomat the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC in 1991.