(1828–1866) La Traviata, oil on canvas, 95 x 126.5 cm, framed, (W)

Prof. Dr. Ottomeyer writes in his letter of authentication dated 4.8.2013, “the dramatic scene with its many figures shows the moment in which Alfredo throws his winnings on the gaming table for his lover Violetta in payment for her favours. This insult provokes a scandal amongst the society in the salon. The painter has deliberately attempted to record a different reaction to the dramatic event on each face of the many people present, and to precisely differentiate between these reactions. Horror, incomprehension, derision, discord, protest, dismay, rejection, anger and repugnancy are demonstrated in the postures of the 31 people surrounding the Lady of the Camellias in white dress who, deeply hurt, allows her lover’s insults to wash over her.” He writes of the artist, “D’Unker was born in Stockholm as Carl Hendrik d’Unker Luetzow. He worked from 1847 to 1850 as an autodidact and caricaturist. Given a grant to travel by the Swedish King Ottokar I, in 1850 d’Unker went to the academy in Düsseldorf where he studied from 1851 to 1853 with Karl Ferdinand Sohn, a pupil of Wilhelm von Schadow. After sojourns in Sweden and Paris he lived in Düsseldorf until his premature death at the age of 38. His painting La Traviata is neither signed nor dated, but based on its composition, details and style of painting, it can be assigned to his œuvre with a high degree of certainty.”