Egg Tapping on Easter Sunday by Hubert Ritzenhofen

Hubert Ritzenhofen
1879-1961 | German

Egg Tapping on Easter Sunday

Signed and dated "H. Ritzenhofen 05" (lower right)
Oil on canvas

This grand domestic tableau was painted by esteemed German painter Hubert Ritzenhofen, a quintessential subject for the artist known for his captivating genre scenes. Radiating with familial warmth and joviality, Egg Tapping on Easter Sunday is a masterful display of Ritzenhofen's talent for rendering light, atmosphere and compelling lifelike portraits.

A gathering of three generations forms the central focus of the composition, with a welcoming openness drawing the viewer into their circle. The family plays a traditional Easter game called egg tapping, which features two opponents knocking two hard-boiled eggs together to see whose will crack first. A range of emotions play across the family's faces, from excited anticipation to playful disappointment.

Egg tapping dates back to the Middle Ages, and this quaint subject would have been highly recognizable and beloved by Ritzenhofen's audience. In fact, this painting was so revered that it was hung in the main viewing hall of the Great Berlin Art Exhibition of 1906 and was chosen for illustration in the catalog. Afterward, the painting was a beloved part of the artist's family collection, and it was on prominent display at the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum of Düsseldorf from 1972-2006.

Born in Amsterdam to German parents, Hubert Ritzenhofen was raised and educated in Düsseldorf. He studied at both the Düsseldorf Arts & Crafts School and the Royal Prussian Art Academy with Heinrich Lauenstein, Willy Spatz, Eduard von Gebhardt and Claus Meyer, graduating in 1907. Particularly adept at capturing the vibrancy of daily life in 20th-century Europe, Ritzenhofen painted interiors, genre scenes, portraits and landscapes to great acclaim. Even before completing his studies, the artist was exhibiting in major exhibitions and gaining prestigious commissions.

Dated 1905

Canvas: 63" high by 55 1/2" wide (160.02 x 140.97 cm)
Frame: 73 1/4" high by 63" wide (180.06 x 160.02 cm)

Provenance:
By descent in the artist's family to his granddaughter, until 2021
M.S. Rau, New Orleans

Literature:
Officieller Katalog der Grossen Berliner Kunst - Ausstellung, 1906, p. 80, 93, no. 919, illustrated
  Irene Markowitz, Hubert Ritzenhofen 1879-1961: Ein Maler und Zeichner des Alten Düsseldorf, Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Düsseldorf, 1979, unpaginated, no. 11, illustrated
Gisela Cursiefen, Hubert Ritzenhofen 1879-1961: Leben und Werk, Tenea, Berlin, 2000, p. 49, 201, no. 5

Exhibited:
Berlin, Grossen Berliner Kunst - Ausstellung, April 28 - September 30, 1906, no. 919
Düsseldorf, Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, Hubert Ritzenhofen 1879 -1961: Ein Maler und Zeichner des Alten Düsseldorf, October 17 - November 21, 1979, no. 11
Düsseldorf, Stadtgeschichtliches Museum, on long-term loan from the family, 1972-2006