I am trying to obtain information about an artist Chris Horsfall who
did a pastel portrait I have. English I think. Active around 1915 to
1930 worked possibly in Oxford and Berlin

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 25 Jan 2003 07:54 PST

Davealarms --

I have found some information on an artist who meets your description
exactly (pastel portraits, early 20th century, British-German
extraction, worked in Berlin) except that his first name is not
"Chris."

Rather than post an answer now based on a guess (albeit a good one)
that this is your man, would you let me know whether you are certain
of the first name?

Also, what kind and amount of information are you seeking?  I may have
to use  print resources (which I am happy to do) to provide more than
a brief biography, an image of a painting, and contact information for
a gallery that recently sold the painting.

markj-ga

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Request for Question Clarification by scriptor-ga on 25 Jan 2003 13:26 PST

Dear davealarms,

Is it possible that the artist's name is not Chris Horsfall, but
rather Charles M. Horsfall? If so, I could provide information on him.
Also, I will have access to a printed source definitely containing
information on Charles M. Horsfall as early as Monday. If you think
this person could be the right one, please let me know and I will
answer your question.

Best regards,
Scriptor

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Request for Question Clarification by markj-ga on 25 Jan 2003 13:35 PST

davealarms -- 

As scriptor-ga knows, I'm sure, from his subsequent research, Charles
M. Horsfall is the painter that became the prime candidate for the
artist in question as a result of my prior efforts.  I look forward to
your response to my clarification request.  Thanks.

markj-ga

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Clarification of Question by davealarms-ga on 27 Jan 2003 03:29 PST

Charles M Horsfall is probably correct. Is the name Charles
Mendelssohn Horsfall.  He painted two pastel copies in approximately
1920 of Carl Begas's oil of Felix Mendelssohn as a boy in 1821.  Have
you any information as to why or how he assummed the Mendelssohn name.

Dear davealarms,

Here is what I was able to find out about the painter Charles
Mendelssohn Horsfall:

Charles Mendelssohn Horsfall, son of a German mother and an English
father, was born in 1862. From the days of his boyhood, he lived in
Jungen, Germany (today Wiag, Poland).
In 1893, he exhibited three pastel portraits - among them "The
Artist's Mother" - at the Salon de Paris exhibition of the French
Societé Nationale. Afterwards, he resided and worked in Berlin.
Until 1914, he often participated in the Große Kunstausstellung (Grand
Art Exhibition) in the German capital, exhibiting his portraits of
ladies and gentlemen from the Berlin elegant society. By the majority,
his work was focussed on pastel paintings. During his time in Berlin,
Charles M. Horsfall enjoyed much credit for his esteemed paintings.
Hosfall's paintings were exhibited at the Berlin Große
Kunstausstellung in 1893, 1894, 1897-1900, 1903, 1906, 1908-1910,
1912, and 1914. Also, he presented his works at the 1914 Salon de
Paris in France and at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin, Ireland.
Charles M. Horsfall painted a portrait of British Fieldmarshal Horatio
Herbert Kitchener (1850-1916), most likely before the outbreak of the
First World War.
Also, the National Portrait Gallery in London, England, owns two of
Charles M. Horsfall's portraits. Unfortunately, it is currently
impossible to say which paintings these are since the National
Portrait Gallery's database is not working at the moment. In case the
database is functional again at a later date, you will be able to
access the list of Horsfall's works there by following this link:
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/a-z/artH.asp
It seems that Charles M. Horsfall has either not left Germany in World
War I or returned there after 1918; a 1924 German art encylopedia
entry lists him as "living in Germany since his youth".
The presence of two of his works in the London National Portrait
Gallery, however, indicates that he might have left Germany after 1924
to take residence in England, maybe in connection with the National
Socialists coming to power: "Mendelssohn" is a German-Jewish name,
mostly associated with an old family of patrons of the arts and
artists. His German mother might have been a Mendelssohn connected
with this family. This would also explain why Charles M. Horsfall
copied Begas' portrait of Felix Mendelssohn, because F. Mendelssohn
very likely was one of his descendants.
Though the brief biography of Horsfall by the Somoza-Sims Gallery of
Fine Art (see sources listed below) mentions an English mother and a
German father, it is more likely that his mother was German and the
father English, as declared in the 1924 Allgemeines Lexikon der
Bildenden Künstler.
Charles Mendelssohn Horsfall died in 1942.

To view his "Portrait of a young Lady", please follow this link:
http://www.somozagallery.com/images/Somoza-Sims/444big.jpg
Source: Somoza-Sims Gallery of Fine Art

Sources:

Thieme / Becker: Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler, Vol. 17.
Published by E.A. Seemann, Leipzig, 1924.

Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon, Bio-Bibliographischer Index, Vol. 5.
Published by K.G. Saur, 2000. ISBN 3-598-23915-7

Somoza-Sims Gallery of Fine Art: Biography of Charles Mendelssohn
Horsfall
http://www.somozagallery.com/biography/bio444.htm

National Portrait Gallery: A-Z of Portrait Artists (H)
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/a-z/artH.asp

Princess Grace Irish Library: Horatio Herbert Kitchener
http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/k/Kitchener,HH/life.htm

Search terms used:
horsfall pastel portrait
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=horsfall+pastel+portrait&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
"mendelssohn horsfall"
://www.google.de/search?q=%22mendelssohn+horsfall%22&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&sa=n&oq=%22mendelsohn+horsfall%22
"c m horsfall"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22c+m+horsfall%22&btnG=Google-Suche&meta=
horsfall "1865 1942"
://www.google.de/search?q=horsfall+%221865+1942%22&hl=de&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&filter=0
"charles m horsfall"
://www.google.de/search?hl=de&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&newwindow=1&q=%22charles+m+horsfall%22&meta=

Hope this information proves useful and interesting for you!
Best regards,
Scriptor

accurate and quick, many thanks