Drunk European seated on ground

Object Details

• Artist

  Attributed to Basawan

• Court

  Mughal Court

• School/Tradition

  Mughal school

• Provenance

  About 1900

  Reportedly appeared on the art market [1]

  By 1904-1933

  Dr. Friedrich Sarre (1886-1933), method of acquisition unknown [2]

  1933-1953

  Mme. Maria Sarre (Mrs. Friedrich Sarre) (1875-1971), inherited upon the death of her husband, Dr. Friedrich Sarre [3]

  From 1953

  National Museum of Art, Smithsonian Institution, purchased from Mme. Maria Sarre, through Dr. Paul Kempner (1889-1956) [4]

  Notes:

  [1] See Friedrich Sarre and Eugen Mittwoch, “Zeichnungen von Riza Abbasi” [catalog] (München: F. Bruckmann A.-G., 1914), pp. 1-2, 44; pl. 48. In the Forward, Sarre explains that the album with fifty-five paintings appeared on the art market about fifteen years earlier, ca. 1900, and it was encased in a Persian lacquer binding that dated to the early half of the 18th century, which seems to indicate the period during which the album was assembled.

  [2] See Friedrich Sarre. 1904. “Persisch-Islamische Kunst.” “Kunst und Kunstler” vol. 2: 167-182. Sarre discusses Persian paintings and drawings and utilizes related paintings from this album to illustrate his discussion, specifically F1953.15; F1953.26; F1953.46; and F1953.48.

  Friedrich Sarre was a German archaeologist, art historian, and collector of Islamic Art. Between 1925-1931 he was Director of the Islamic collection at the Kaiser Friedrich Museum (now Bode) in Berlin, to which he donated about 760 objects during 1921-22. Upon his death his wife Maria Sarre inherited his collection.

  [3] See object file for copy of letter to Dr. Paul Kempner, dated March 6, 1952, acknowledging that the object (as part of an album) was received by the Freer Gallery of Art. See also object file for copy of March 12, 1952 letter from A. G. Wenley to Maria Sarre, indicating that the object was delivered to the Freer a couple of days earlier. 1952. Dr. Paul Kempner acted as agent for Mme. Sarre.

  Paul Hermman Ludwig Kempner was a German Jewish banker and American entrepreneur and connoisseur of art. Born in Berlin to a family active in law and banking, his second wife Margarete “Marga” von Mendelssohn Kempner (1894-1961) was the daughter of banker Franz von Mendelssohn (1865-1935), and a descendant of the composer Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. Kempner joined the Mendelssohn & Co. banking firm a year after his marriage to Marga, and he would join the board of numerous cultural institutions, including the Kaiser Friedrich Museum. In 1938, Mendelssohn & Co., bank was seized, and Kempner was forced to leave Germany, moving first to Belgium, then to the United Kingdom. In 1939 Kempner and Marga settled in New York City. In partnership with other émigrés, Paul founded the National Varnishing Corporation in New Jersey, or “Natvar,” producing insulation material. He maintained an interest in the arts, particularly Asian art, and was a close friend of Friedrich and Maria Sarre.

  [4] See object file for copy of Maria Sarre invoice to the Freer Gallery of Art, dated October 7, 1952, and approved by Acting Secretary J. E. Graf on June 17, 1952. A notation at the bottom of the invoice requested that, per the instructions of Maria Sarre in her June 28, 1952 letter, the check should be payable to Paul Kempner, who was acting as agent for Maria Sarre. See object file for original June 28, 1952 letter from Sarre to A. G. Wenley. This work is part of the Museum’s Freer Gallery of Art Collection.

  Research updated January 26, 2024

• Collection

  Freer Gallery of Art Collection

• Exhibition History

  Arts of the Indian Subcontinent and the Himalayas (October 16, 2004 to January 3, 2016)

  Masterworks of Indian Painting (December 13, 1997 to June 13, 1998)

  The Arts of South Asia (May 13, 1985 to December 2, 1985)

  The Imperial Image: Painting for the Mughal Court (September 25, 1981 to 30 March 1982)

  Collection of Friedrich and Maria Sarre (1932)

  Die Ausstellung Islamischer Buchkunst im Berliner "Art of the Islamic Book" (February to April, 1910)

  Ausstellung von Meisterwerken Mohammedanischer Kunst in München (May to October 1910)

• Previous custodian or owner

  Friedrich Paul Theodor Sarre (1865-1945)

  Mme. Maria Sarre (1875-1971)

• Origin

  India

• Credit Line

  Purchase — Charles Lang Freer Endowment

• Type

  Painting

• Restrictions and Rights

  Usage Conditions Apply

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Keep Exploring

• Related Resources

  collections.si.edu

• Date

  1580s

• Name

  Sarre, Maria, Sarre, Friedrich Paul Theodor

• Place

  India

• Topic

  South Asian and Himalayan Art, Foreigner, Art, Food habits, Mughal dynasty (1526 - 1858), Reign of Akbar (1556 - 1605), Lute

• Culture

  Himalayan peoples, South Asians

• Object Type

  Paintings