Fig. 1 Anta Rupflin Portrait of a Young French Woman Oil on canvas 62.5 × 50 cm Private Collection
Anta Rupflin
München-Pasing 1895 – 1987 Augsburg
Portrait of a Young French Woman
1925-1930
Charcoal on laid paper
305 × 305 mm
Provenance:
Estate of the artist
Galerie Sundermann, Würzburg, 2017
Sale at Grisebach, Berlin, Online Only Modern and Contemporary Art, 17 April–3 May 2026, lot 1656
Literature:
Margaretha Krämer, Anta Rupflin. Eine vergessene Malerin zwischen Postimpressionismus und Abstraktion, Augsburg, no. 36.
Anta Rupflin. Online catalogue raisonné, no. P 026 (accessed on 1 May 2026).
Exhibited:
Augsburg, Holbeinhaus, Anta Rupflin. Eine vergessene Malerin zwischen Postimpressionismus und Abstraktion, 1–31 May 1992.
Anta Rupflin was a German painter who spent her formative years in Paris. In the early 1920s, she worked in the circle of Mela Muter, whose influence was decisive in shaping her approach to figuration. As a woman artist working within the milieu of the École de Paris, she developed an independent language, characterised by strong contour, simplified forms, and an expressive handling of the figure.
Portraits occupy a central place in her work, with Rüpflin’s interest lying less in descriptive detail than in the construction of presence. Her sitters are defined by a firm linear structure, with features slightly emphasised, giving the face a concentrated, often introspective character. This focus on psychological intensity reflects a personal and self-assured approach to portraiture.
In our Portrait of a French Young Woman the artist emphasises the rendering of the sitter’s large eyes and plump mouth, through which her expression is established. The sheet relates to a painted portrait of the same young French sitter (fig. 1), and it serves to fix the essential structure of the face and the psychological tone of the image before its development in paint.