Artist: Ludwig Knaus (1829-1910) German

Title: The Rag Baby (1878)

Medium: Oil on Canvas, Signed lower left and dated

Size: 24.75” x 18.75” Framed, 11.5” x 17.5” Unframed

The Rag Baby (1880) is an insightful oil on panel depicting a young girl cuddling a rag doll, which she prefers to the porcelain doll held precariously in her right hand. The delicate brushwork captures her angelic innocence with the doll’s cradle in the shadows. The muted tones of the background provide a soft backdrop for an emotional moment frozen in time and is an excellent example of his portraiture skills and homage to his love of Dutch masters. The condition is very good with no outstanding signs of aging with a linen matting and gold wood filet in a gilded period wooden frame.

Biography:Ludwig Knaus (1829-1910), a German artist born in Wiesbaden he specialized in genre and history painting and was an avid collector of Dutch old master paintings. He studied in various locales including Düsseldorf, Paris, Barbizon, London and Italy. From 1845 to 1852 he was under the tutelage of Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow and Karl Ferdinand Sohn in Düsseldorf. In 1853 his Morning after the Kermess received the second gold Medal of the Salon and made him a celebrated painter. Except for a year's study in Italy he remained in Paris until 1860. From 1874 to 1883 he was professor at the Royal Prussian Academy, Berlin, continuing to reside in that city until his death.