1938
oil on canvas
160.5 x 105.5 cm (63 1/8 x 41 1/2 in.)
signed and dated lower left

PROVENANCE
A gift from the artist to the City of Amsterdam in 1938
Acquired from the city of Amstedam by Anton du Mee
Thence by descent in the family
Christie's, Amsterdam, October 26, 2004, Lot 128
Sotheby's, London, May 19, 2005, Lot 120

LOT NOTES
In this painting, Anton van Welie depicted Anna Pavlova posthumously in her most famous role, in the ballet Swan Lake. Based in London after World War I, Pavlova toured the world widely during the 1920s, and performed her last performance in 1930. She passed away in The Hague in 1931, and an earlier portrait of Pavlova by van Welie is currently in the collection of the Museum Mesdag at the Hague. The original owner of this painting, Anton du Mee, who acquired the painting from the city of Amerstdam, to whom Pavlova had gifted it, was an importer of French films into the Netherlands. He screened the ballet film, La mort du cygne at the Rialto Cinema in Amsterdam in 1938, and probably acquired the painting at this time for this occasion.