Albert von Kellerartist • painterGais (Zwitserland) 1844-1920 München (Duitsland)

Albert von Keller was a successful German painter around 1900 with his portraits and interiors featuring elegant women. Born in Switzerland and raised in Munich, he attended the academy there and became a member of the then avant-garde Munich Secession in 1892. His style gradually became freer, and his genre scenes appealed to the wealthy bourgeoisie of the German Belle Époque. Interested in the human psyche, he became a member of the 'Psychologischen Gesellschaft' in Munich in 1886, whose members researched the phenomenon of hypnosis. It is known that Keller captured several of the women hypnotized by Albert von Schrenck-Notzing in various states of mind and then transferred his observations into portraits. Some of these are characterized by their distant, dreamy gaze, as if in a trance. After 1900, Von Keller again concentrated primarily on painting wealthy, beautifully dressed women and celebrities such as renowded actresses.