About the Acquisition
The chemist and engineer Ignaz Stroof (1838–1920) was the technical director of the Chemische Fabrik Griesheim (CFG) near Frankfurt am Main. In 1899 he became a member of the supervisory board at BASF in Ludwigshafen. He left this painting to the Städel Museum. In 1921 his executor notified the Städel administration by letter that the works should now “be collected by an authorised representative carrying appropriate identification”. This instruction was duly followed. Stroof is honoured by the city of Frankfurt to this day: a street in Griesheim bears his name.