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The Dice Throwers
by B Sonn after 

Die Wurfelspieler by
August Eduard Nikolaus Meyer
(1856-1919) (Claus Meyer)
​

Research by Ayla Shearer and Marjorie Gregson
Picture
Picture
Acc No               13
Artist                   B Sonn after 
Claus Meyer (1856-1919)
Artist dates         active 19th century
Medium              oil on panel
Size                    66.0 x 53.3 cm (26 x 21 in)
Date painted       unknown
Donor                  Mrs Agnes E Kirby, nee Webster, 1879-1962
                           14 Lawrence Avenue, St Annes   
Date donated      28 November 1949


Picture
Die Würfelspieler, 1885 by Claus Meyer
PAINTING

Here, the dice thrower and surrounding men play an historical game in a public house. The intensity of the playing is expressed through the stances of the figures poised over the table and Sonn's dramatic use of perspective. A high, open window draws pipe-smoke upwards and objects appear unsteady, almost rocking.  Could these be travellers breaking their journeys?

ARTIST
​

We have been unable to discover anything about this artist. The Public Catalogue Foundation attributes this to American artist, Albert H Sonn (1867-1936), but his style is very different. This painting has a very distinctive signature of B Sonn, quite unlike that of Albert H Sonn.


After searching without success for information about the artist B Sonn our most recent research revealed that the painting was a copy of Die Wurfelspieler, 1885, by the German artist, Claus Meyer. 

​August Eduard Nikolaus Meyer (1856-1919) was born in Linden, near Hanover, and studied at the Nuremberg School of Art and the Munich Academy, becoming a professor at the Karlsruhe Academy and later at the Dusseldorf Academy.  He was a genre painter of renown and recognised for his compelling portraits and interiors.
Among his best known works is The Dice Players, which was created in 1885, and copied in smaller variants.

Picture
His pictures are often “arranged in a stage-like box room and were often based on Dutch interior paintings of the 17th century.
The back lit view through the windows refers to this tradition.
” Teja Hohensee.
​
REFERENCE
www.dewezet.de
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