FR EN
1 / 2
an oil painting of a room with a window and a chaira painting of a square frame with a piece of paper in the middle
Premium Wannenes Art Auctions

Estimate €1,000 - €2,000
Sale commission
Description
PETER KUHFELD United Kingdom 1952 Henry James’s Room at Palazzo Barbaro Signed ‘Kuhfeld’ in the bottom right-hand corner Oil on card, 54 × 42 cm The painting depicts the room usually reserved for the American writer Henry James (1843–1916), a guest of Daniel and Ariana Curtis from 1887 onwards and a constant presence at Palazzo Barbaro during his subsequent stays in Venice. It was precisely within the confines of this residence on the Grand Canal that James found one of the most inspiring settings of his Italian experience. From the Curtis’s home, in June 1887, he sent the second and final part of *The Aspern Papers* to his London publisher, and returned there on several occasions, captivated by that atmosphere in which art, history and everyday life blended in a harmony that he would celebrate in his essays on Venice and, above all, in *The Wings of the Dove* (1902). In the novel, in fact, Palazzo Leporelli, the refuge of the protagonist Milly Theale, is unanimously recognised by critics as a literary transfiguration of Palazzo Barbaro, described as a sort of ‘ark’ suspended over the water, a place where art becomes a temporary bulwark against the fragility of the human condition. Peter Khüfeld’s work thus takes on a significance that goes beyond that of a mere interior view. Just as John Singer Sargent had immortalised the grand hall of Palazzo Barbaro in his famous *An Interior in Venice* and Ralph Randolf Latimer had documented its most representative rooms, so too does Khüfeld portray a space deeply linked to the memory of its illustrious visitors. Bibliography: E. A. McCauley, A. Chong, R. Momoli Zorzi, R. Linger, *Gondola Days. Isabella Stewart Gardner and the Palazzo Barbaro Circle*, Boston 2004, pp. 140–144 ‘Gondola Days’: Isabella Stewart Gardner and her world at Palazzo Barbaro-Curtis, exhibition catalogue edited by R. Mamoli Zorzi, Venice 2004, pp. 97–105 R. Mamoli Zorzi, Ralph W. Curtis. An American Painter in Venice, Venice 2019, pp. 5–6, 55–56
See original version (Italian)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale FROM THE CURTIS COLLECTIONS AT PALAZZO BARBARO: PAINTINGS, FURNITURE AND WORKS OF ART
Auction location
Auction time 09/29/2026 at 2:45 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
You may also like