AMSTERDAM.- A recently discovered portrait by Piet Mondrian (1872 – 1944) is being shown for the first time at the PAN art and Antique Fair in Amsterdam.
Earlier this year, during a valuation in Zandvoort, the art dealer and appraiser Willem de Winter from Haarlem, The Netherlands discovered an early oil painting by Piet Mondrian, one of the most famous painters in Dutch art history.
The painting shows the portrait of: Elisabeth Sophia Maria (Betsy) Cavalini (1873-1933) oil on canvas, fully signed and dated 1901, r.b., 73 x 53 cm.
She was married to: Cornelis (Kees) Bergman (1867-1947). They married March 19, 1902 in Amsterdam.
The discovered portrait was painted by Piet Mondrian when he was 29 years old. The portrait is not included in the oeuvre catalog of Robert Welsh and Joop Joosten from 1998. It is a - until now - unknown work that can be added to the oeuvre of the genius Mondrian.
Origin
The portrait of Elisabeth Sophia Maria Bergman - Cavelini appears to come directly from Cornelis Bergman through inheritance in the female line.
A beautiful family origin, which gives the painting a closing and continuous family origin (so-called provenance).
Cornelis Bergman (1867 - 1947), pupil, admirer and collector
Bergman was 5 years older than Mondrian, he was a broker in coffee and also an amateur painter. As such he received lessons from Piet Mondrian.
Cornelis Bergman is known to have owned several paintings by Mondrian.
Several members of the Bergman family were portrayed by Mondrian.
The oeuvre catalog includes the portrait of Cornelis Bergman himself (A. 385), ca. 1908, and the portrait of his son Cornelis Bergman jr., Ca. 1907 (A. 386).
These portraits testify to the close bond and friendship between the Bergman family and Piet Mondrian. Cornelis Bergman was an important patron for Mondrian.
The portrait will be shown for the first time and will be for sale at the PAN art fair
in the Rai (hall 8) in Amsterdam, The Netherlands at the booth of
Kunsthandel E.J. van Wisselingh & Co, stand no. 110.
The PAN fair is being held from Sunday, November 18 until Sunday, November 25, 2018
