Sale: 479 / Classics of the 20th Century I, Dec. 08. 2018 in Munich Lot 857

 

857
August Macke
Begrüssung (Thunersee), 1913.
Watercolor
Estimate:
€ 350,000 / $ 378,000
Sold:
€ 925,000 / $ 999,000

(incl. surcharge)
Begrüssung (Thunersee). 1913.
Watercolor.
Heiderich 383. With a label on the old rear board, there with a hand-written confirmation of authenticity by Erdmann-Macke, there belatedly dated "1912". On light creme wove paper. 31.8 x 26.7 cm (12.5 x 10.5 in), the full sheet.

Bright and dynamic watercolor from the artist's best period of creation. Macke's most important works came into existence on his stay at Lake Thun.

PROVENANCE: Matthias Rech, Bonn (presumably acuired from the artist's estate in April 1936).
Marianne Storp, neé Rech (inherited from aforementioned around 1957).
Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, auction on June 20, 1997, 19th and 20th Century Art, part I, cat. no. 81 (consigned from the estate of aforementioned).
Private collection USA (acquired from aforementioned).
Private collection (acquired from aforementioned).

EXHIBITION: Macke. Aquarell-Ausstellung, Städtisches Kunsthaus, Bielefeld 1957, cat. no. 275, with illu. on p. 35.

LITERATURE: Gustav Vriesen, August Macke, Stuttgart 1957, cat. no. 275, with illu. on p. 287.
Janice Mary McCullagh, August Macke and the Vision of Paradise: An Iconographic Analysis, Diss., The University of Texas, Austin 1980, p. 108.
Ursula Heiderich, August Macke. Aquarelle, Werkverzeichnis, Ostfildern-Ruit 1997, cat. no. 383, with full-page illu. on p. 112.
"Hilterfingen [on Lake Thun] - what a careless and happy time we would have with our two lovely children, like in paradise, almost unreal - before the catastrophe befell Europe! There we were in this idyll, amidst the finest nature, mountains and a glimpse of the lake with every look out of the window, the delightful air and the sun, sy mountains and the water, creating ever new plays of colors right in front of our eyes.“
Elisabeth Erdmann-Macke, the artist's widow, quote after: E. Erdmann-Macke, Erinnerungen an August Macke, Frankfurt a. M. 1987, p. 275.
"It was the first time that Macke did not take old pictures with him. He wanted to start all over in Switzerland. He still was a bit exhausted from the preparations of the exhibition 'Erster Deutscher Herbstsalon' and filled with bitterness about the bad reviews. But down here on remote Lake Thun and in the warm October sun he rejoiced in just a few days. He got painting supplies and began to work in a passionate furor he nad never felt before, creating the most important works of his oeuvre within just four weeks on Lake Thun in October 1913."
Florian Illies, 1913. Der Sommer des Jahrhunderts, Frankfurt a. M. 2012, p. 258.




857
August Macke
Begrüssung (Thunersee), 1913.
Watercolor
Estimate:
€ 350,000 / $ 378,000
Sold:
€ 925,000 / $ 999,000

(incl. surcharge)