Sale: 517 / Modern Art II, June 18. 2021 in Munich Lot 122

 

122
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Stafelalp, Gesamtansicht (Alpaufzug), 1918.
Woodcut
Estimate:
€ 25,000 / $ 27,000
Sold:
€ 28,750 / $ 31,050

(incl. surcharge)
Stafelalp, Gesamtansicht (Alpaufzug). 1918.
Woodcut.
Gercken 911 II. Dube H 379. Schiefler H 363. Signed and inscribed "Versuchsdruck" as well as dated an titled by a hand other than that of the artist. Trial proof aside from the to date known edition of 6 copies. On light, chalk-primed board. 33.7 x 56.8 cm (13.2 x 22.3 in). Sheet: 41,4 x 63,2 cm (16,2 x 24,8 in).
The woodcut as made in 1918 during E. L. Kirchner's second stay on the Stafelalp. [CH].
• Impressive, detailed depiction of the artist's beloved alpine landscape above Davos, in the center with the hut on the "Stafelalp" in which he lived in from 1917.
• Expressively and with a masterly technique, Kirchner translates the imposing Swiss mountain landscape into the monochrome woodcut technique.
• To date only one other copy from this state has been offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• The work shows a strong similarity to Kirchner's magnificent painting "Alpaufzug" (1918/19, St. Gallen Kunstmuseum)
.

We are grateful to Prof. Dr. Günther Gercken for his kind expert advice.

PROVENANCE: Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia.

"Good van de Velde wrote today asking me to better return to modern life. [..] That is absolutely impossible for me. [..]. I can harvest a rich field for my creative poers here, barely able to master it in good healthy, not to mention the state I'm in today. The world's attractions are all the same everywhere, they only differ in their outer form. And here is where I learn to look much deeper than in so-called 'modern' life, which is, despite its rich outer form, so much more shallow."
E. L. Kirchner about his life on the "Stafelalp", quote from: Lucius Grisebach, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner 1880-1938, Cologne 1995, p. 153.




122
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner
Stafelalp, Gesamtansicht (Alpaufzug), 1918.
Woodcut
Estimate:
€ 25,000 / $ 27,000
Sold:
€ 28,750 / $ 31,050

(incl. surcharge)