Sale: 406 / Modern Art, June 08. 2013 in Munich Lot 27

 

27
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Sanddünen unter Bäumen, 1912.
Watercolor
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 97,600 / $ 105,408

(incl. surcharge)
Sanddünen unter Bäumen. Um 1912.
Watercolor over black chalk.
Verso with estate stamp of Kunstmuseum Basel (Lugt 1570b) and with registration number "A Be/Aa 30". On creme wove paper. 38,3 x 54,9 cm (15 x 21,6 in). Sheet.

This work is documented in the Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Archive Wichtrach/Bern.

PROVENANCE: Estate Ernst Ludwig Kirchner.
Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett Roman Norbert Ketterer, 31. Auktion, Mai 1958, No. 485 with ill.
Galleria Castelnuovo, Ascona 1961, No. 19 with ill.
Private collection Baden-Württemberg.

Kirchner studied architecture in Dresden where he met and worked with Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. After finishing his studies, however, he opposed his father's wishes and decided to become a painter. The intense artistic and intellectual relationship between the four artists soon led to the formation of the artist group 'Die Brücke', which, according to Schmidt-Rottluff, wanted to "attract all revolutionary and restless forces". The artists began to work on the ‚Viertelstundenakte', drawings on nude models in the studio or in open nature. At first the group oriented itself to artists from Late Impressionism. The discovery of the Fauves, South Seas' art and van Gogh led the painters to Expressionism. Due to the encounter with Italian Futurist works, the group's painting style changed and became ‚tougher'. Kirchner studied the sculptures at the Völkerkundemuseum in Dresden, which influenced his own wood sculptures. In 1911 Kirchner moved to Berlin. Here Kirchner discovered new motifs - city and street scenes. He painted them in a simplified manner, with sharply contoured forms, expressive features and clashing colors. The city paintings became incunables of Expressionism and made Kirchner one of the most important German artists of the 20th century.

But the artist also sought the contrast to the hustle and bustle of the metropolis of Berlin. The stays on Fehmarn in the summers of 1912 to 1914 were crucial for Ernst Ludwig Kirchner‘s artistic development. Similar to his summer stays at the Moritzburg Lakes in the days of the Dresden "Brücke", nature was experienced emotionally and up close. The watercolors made there characteristic of the mature artist. At the same time their landscape illustration is determined by a compact gesture of a composition that finds its expression in combination with the existing topography. The great picturesque swing that our watercolor emanates is supported by an elevated lust for life that can arise in such a lighthearted atmosphere as found on the Baltic Sea. The management of the optical elements between the pure paper surfaces and those of the watercolor, show Kirchner as a sovereign master of technical skills, which before the World War I marked a peak in the artist’s creation.

The beginning of world war I and the following years were a turning point in his life. The war experiences and military service caused an existential angst and led to illness and long stays in sanatoriums. The more remarkable was his artistic production of that time. Works like the woodcut ‚Frauen am Potsdamer Platz' , the ‚Bilder zu Chamisso's Peter Schlemihl', the self-portraits and woodcut pictures from the sanatoriums, which are counted among the highlights of his œuvre, came into existence. In 1917 Kirchner settled in Frauenkirch near Davos. The city scenes were now replaced by mountain landscapes and scenes of rural life. Around 1920 his painting style calmed down, his paintings had a carpet-like two dimensionality. Beside Kirchner also produced an extensive graphic work - wood cuts, lithographs and ink drawings. In 1923 Kirchner moved to the ‚Haus auf dem Wildboden' at the entrance of the Sertig Valley where he lived and worked until he committed suicide in 1938. [KD].




27
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Sanddünen unter Bäumen, 1912.
Watercolor
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 97,600 / $ 105,408

(incl. surcharge)