Portrait of Rolf Stoll

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This painting has long been thought to depict Rolf Stoll, a Cleveland artist who was a fellow member of the Kokoon Klub, but he had dark hair and eyes. If this is Stoll, then the work is an extreme example of Sommer’s interpretive approach to portraiture in which he altered physical features to convey a particular mood. The figure’s heavy black outlines reveal Sommer’s interest in German expressionist art, while the patchy brushwork is reminiscent of the work of French painter Paul Cézanne, whom Sommer greatly admired.

Keywords

Ohio
Regional
Cleveland School
Painting
Male