Rhododendron. 1923.
Watercolor.
Center right monogrammed and dated. 50 x 65 cm (19.6 x 25.5 in), size of sheet.
[SM].
• Along with Nolde, Rohlfs is one of the few artists of Modernism who has found a new, independent form of expression for still lifes with flowers.
• Rohlfs removes the material from the color and thus creates compositions of unearthly lightness and poetry.
• The flower compositions are among the artist's most sought-after works on paper on the auction market.

PROVENANCE: Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia.

"Much has been written about the importance of flowers for Rohlfs' work, their popularity far surpassing that of the other subjects. He painted all he could find in his garden and in the gardens of friends: the cannas and callas, the funkias and anturias, the sunflowers and chrysanthemums [.]. He painted them as individual beings, large and luminous [.], not as a bouquet, not as a decoration, least of all as a still life - the flower became a picture, a picture to blossom "(quote from: Paul Vogt, Christian Rohlfs, Cologne 1967, pp. 73f.).