Richard Gutekunst, dates unknown
Nationality: Swiss
Date of Birth:
Identity:
Richard Gutekunst (b. 1870) was a German print dealer active in London between 1890 and 1914.
Life:
Richard Gutekunst was one of the sons of Hermann G. Gutekunst of Stuttgart. From 1890 until December 1893 he worked with his brother Otto in the firm of Deprez & Gutekunst. He then returned to Stuttgart where he worked with his father and built up his knowledge of the German art market, studying prints collections in Dresden and Berlin. In 1894 he and his father produced a catalogue of an important Angiolini sale in Milan. In 1895 he opened his own print dealership in London which prospered until the outbreak of World War I in 1914 when he was classified as enemy alien. Part of his collection was acquired by Colnaghi in 1918 and the rest was sold by Garland-Smith & Co. by order of the Public Trustee on 2-3 December 1920. In Berne he went on to form Gutekunst-Klipstein with Dr A. Klipstein.
In London during the period 1900-1910, Gutekunst acquired a particularly impressive collection of old master and contemporary prints. He favoured work by contemporary printmakers such as Whistler, Seymour Haden, Alphonse Legros, Cameron and McBey. His circular black ink stamp can be found on Whistler etchings including K0130404, K0420325, K1630101 and K1630z04.
Bibliography:
The Times, 3 December 1920, p. 5; Lugt, Frits, Les marques de collections de dessins et d'estampes: marques estampillèes et écrites de collections particulières et publiques; marques de marchands, de monteurs et d'imprimeurs; etc..., Amsterdam, 1921 (2213a).