Sale: 360 / Modern Art, Dec. 12. 2009 in Munich Lot 117

 
Leo Putz - Rückenakt


117
Leo Putz
Rückenakt, 1904.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 50,000 / $ 54,000
Sold:
€ 41,242 / $ 44,541

(incl. surcharge)

Oil on canvas
Putz 295. Signed and dated lower right. 90,7 x 77,5 cm (35,7 x 30,5 in)

PROVENANCE: Galerie von Abercron, Munich.
Galerie Westenhoff, Hamburg.
Private collection South Germany.

Against his fathers wish, Putz moved to Munich at the age of 16, to take first drawing lessons under his stepbrother Prof. Robert Poetzelberger. He then studied fine arts first at the academy in Munich and then, from 1891 to 1892, at the Académie Julian in Paris under the professors Adolphe Bouguereau and Benjamin Constant. After returning from Paris, Putz attended the studio class of the genre painter Paul Höcker. The Munich Secession was founded in 1892 and Putz frequently exhibited at the annual exhibitions. A few years later, in 1899, Höcker's studio class founded the artist group "Scholle". Putz was one of its founding members. The group confronted the predominant academic style and Historicism with a new, temperamental painting style, which shows influences of Wilhelm Trübner. The central subject of their art was the depiction of people, mainly women. A beautiful example are the so-called 'Hartmannsberger' pictures, studies of bathing female nudes, which capture the magic and the light of plein-air-painting.

In this rear-view nude Leo Putz delivers proof of his mastery in subtle coloring. The reflection of the soft green of the foliage under which the nude is seated, becomes an appealing counterpoint to the to the tone of the flesh of the model’s skin. Three small light reflections on the shoulders of the naked beauty subtly underline the implied color contrasts. The composition’s simple forms, which are brought to life solely by the colors, are enlivened by a background in which Putz obviously demonstrated his joy in using fresh and exciting shades of colors.

Putz and his family returned to Gauting in Bavaria in 1923 and was honored with an honorary membership of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. In 1929 Putz travelled to São Paulo, his first trip overseas. He and his family spent the following years in South America, going on extensive journeys to Buenos Aires and to the jungle in Bahia. Putz‘s work was recognized with an honorary professorship at the Escola Nacional de Bellas Artes in Rio. The time spent in South America had a significant influence on Putz's painting: southern landscapes and people populate his works, the palette is bright and colorful. In 1933 Putz once again returned to Gauting with his family. While he was honored with a large exhibition at the Munich Künstlerverein (Artist Society), Putz still felt the need to flee from the National Socialists to his home town Meran in 1936. An occupational ban was imposed on him in 1937 and the NSDAP enforced the breakup of the Secession and all artist groups in Munich in 1938. Leo Putz died on 21 July 1940 in his exile in Meran. [KD].




117
Leo Putz
Rückenakt, 1904.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 50,000 / $ 54,000
Sold:
€ 41,242 / $ 44,541

(incl. surcharge)