Bidspirit auction | Caspar Ritter (1861-1923)

Caspar Ritter (1861-1923) - Nude on the bed, XIX-XX w.. Oil on canvas, 70 × 50 cm Signed lower right: ”Casp. Ritter” In a decorative, gilded frame The work has been restored (last photo) This intimate female nude is depicted in an intimate, boudoir setting. The model, seated on a bed, in half-profile and immersed in a quiet, everyday activity, is composed with soft chiaroscuro and a subdued, atmospheric palette of greens, browns, and off-whites. The composition combines the academic accuracy of a nude study with the decorative, salon character typical of painting at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The work fits well into Caspar Ritter's well-known repertoire, which includes portraits, nudes, and genre scenes. The artist's attribution is based on the presented description of the object and the signature visible in the photograph; full confirmation would require in-person inspection. Caspar Ritter was a Swiss painter active in German-Swiss circles. He trained first in Winterthur and from 1882 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. After teaching in Munich and at the Städel in Frankfurt, he was appointed professor of portrait painting in Karlsruhe in 1888, where he worked until 1919. He was primarily known as a portraitist, but also created nudes and genre scenes; his work was highly regarded in both Germany and Switzerland.