* Cogen Fisherwomen {1881} Loc? [PA]

Cogen, Félix (1838-1907; Belgian)
Fisherwoman
Oil on canvas, c.148.59 x 99.06 cm
Purchased, 1881; de-accessioned and sold at auction 1950
Unidentified; present location unknown  

This work was shown in the 1880 International Exhibition in Melbourne and purchased from the Commissioner for Belgium. The artist apparently specialized in realist images of the daily life of fisher-people.

See also Courtens Morning {1881} NGV [PA], also from the 1880 Exhibition. 

[comparative painting by Cogen: The returning fishermen (auctioned in 2000)]

Refs.

AR 1881, p.53; SB, p.308 (noting the 1950 auction); NGV 1894, p.90 (IV.McArthur Gallery, no.50; size given as 58½” x 39”); NGV 1905, p.98 (III.McArthur Gallery, no.60) [£90] 

Both Bénézit 3, p.1188, and AKL 20 (1998), pp.145-46 list this work as still in the NGV collection, but the 1950 auction details noted in the gallery’s stock-book are unambiguous

For other examples of Cogen’s work, see e.g. http://www.blouinartinfo.com/artists/41076-felix-cogen and http://www.mutualart.com/Artist/Felix-Cogen/3CB9DC496C3E812F; for the work reproduced above, see https://www.mutualart.com/Artwork/The-returning-fishermen/F42577600657613E (oil on canvas, 46.3 x 82.6 cm; auctioned 7 Dec.2000)