Sale: 533 / Modern Art Day Sale and Gerlinger Collection, Dec. 10. 2022 in Munich Lot 438

 

438
Cuno Amiet
Postkarte – Skifahrer, 1907.
India ink drawing
Estimate:
€ 4,000 / $ 4,320
Sold:
€ 13,750 / $ 14,850

(incl. surcharge)
Postkarte – Skifahrer. 1907.
India ink drawing.
Signed and inscribed "Herzliche Glückwünsche" in bottom margin. On a blank postcard. 14.1 x 9 cm (5.5 x 3.5 in).
Postcard sent from Oschwand to Prof. Dr. Ganter, postage stamp dated January 1, 1907.
The work is registered in the Collection Hermann Gerlinger with the number SHG 881. [SM].
• Humorous and unerring personal greeting card to one of the most significant patrons of Swiss Modernism.
• Within 20th Century Art, the postcard became established as an independent genre.
• Winter scene ably captured in pointillist manner
.

PROVENANCE: Prof. Dr. Heinrich Ganter (1848-1915), Aarau (since 1907).
Collection Hermann Gerlinger, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp Lugt 6032, since 2010: Villa Grisebach).

EXHIBITION: Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Collection Hermann Gerlinger, 2017-2022).

LITERATURE: Villa Grisebach, Berlin, November 28, 2010, lot 601.

The postcard became a work of art in small format, especially for the "Brücke" artists. It is astonishing to see how active members of the artist group used to communicate with postcards. They also used them to discuss short-term matters. Unlike today, mail was delivered several times a day at the beginning of the 20th century. The artistically designed postcard was also used to keep in touch with patrons and collectors. Adorned with drawings, watercolors and woodcuts, and accompanied by short messages and greetings, they became a special aspect of the artists' work with both a documentary value and artistic originality. At the turn of the year, Cuno Amiet sent New Year's greetings with a fitting winter motif to the important patron Prof. Ganter. Switzerland was one of the main countries for winter sports and Cuno Amiet was also a passionate skier and often spent the holidays with family and friends in the mountains. In addition to the anecdotal aspect, the design of the postcard captivates with the whimsically captured scene of a happy winter day, through the skillful use of pointillist stylistic devices without using color. Amiet was fascinated by the graphisms of the ski tracks in the snow that cut through the vast white worlds of the snowy landscapes. [SM]



438
Cuno Amiet
Postkarte – Skifahrer, 1907.
India ink drawing
Estimate:
€ 4,000 / $ 4,320
Sold:
€ 13,750 / $ 14,850

(incl. surcharge)