The Music Room of Fanny Hensel

1849

Painting of room featuring natural light, grand piano, and walls filled with pictures in gold frames. — Fanny Hensel (1805–1847), the granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn and financier Daniel Itzig, and sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, was born in Hamburg into a wealthy family. A composer of numerous songs, piano compositions, cantatas, and other musical works, Hensel was pressured by her brother Felix (who claimed sole title to many of her works) and by the general attitude of society not to publish her music. She was married to the painter Wilhelm Hensel. She may have used this room to compose and to play her music to intimate circles of family and friends. Brush and watercolor, graphite on paper. 234 x 300 mm (9 3/16 x 11 13/16 in.).

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Credits

Julius Eduard Wilhelm Helfft (1818–1894), The Music Room of Fanny Hensel (née Mendelssohn), 1849. Drawing, brush and watercolor, graphite on white wove paper, 23.4 x 30 cm (9 3/16 x 11 13/16 in.). Thaw Collection, Gift of Eugene Victor Thaw Art Foundation. 2007-27-41. Courtesy of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 6.

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