1276 - ALTENKIRCH, OTTO

ALTENKIRCH, OTTO 1875 Ziesar–1945 Siebenlehn Title: Icy Trough. Date: 1932. Technique: Oil on canvas. Measurement: 67.5 x 85.5cm. Notation: Signed lower left: Otto Altenkirch. Reverse: On the stretcher catalogue raisonné number is written by hand. Frame: Framed. Otto Altenkirch’s works have been rediscovered by the public and the art market in recent years. Just this year, the Städtische Galerie Dresden staged an impressive exhibition of the artist’s work. Otto Altenkirch, who came from the Brandenburg countryside, began his professional career in Berlin with an apprenticeship as a decorative painter. From 1899, he studied painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin, but in 1902 he moved to the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts with his teacher Eugen Bracht. There, from 1903, Otto Altenkirch became Bracht’s official assistant and gained his first experience of exhibiting his work. After completing his studies, Altenkirch remained in Dresden as a freelance artist. In 1910, he was also appointed chief court theatre painter there, a position that made him independent of the art market. Otto Altenkirch worked at the theatre for ten years; in recognition of his services, he was awarded the title of professor. Alongside this, the artist always found time to produce his own work and take part in exhibitions. In 1920, he moved to the small town of Siebenlehn in Central Saxony, where he now concentrated entirely on landscape painting. The division of Germany meant that Otto Altenkirch’s work was, for decades, primarily appreciated in the former GDR. It is gratifying and fitting that it now receives the recognition it deserves from a broad, pan-German audience. Figures are rarely to be found in Otto Altenkirch’s work. His landscapes are almost always devoid of people. However, an early work from 1908 shows that, at the start of his independent career, the artist also undertook portrait commissions. The ‘Portrait of Dr Zimmermann’ (Lot 1279) already gives a clear sense, in its handling of colour – particularly that of the glove and the pink dress – of the lightness characteristic of the later Impressionist. The ‘Linden Avenue in Reinsberg in Early Spring’ from 1925 (Lot 1280) is bathed in the diffuse and artistically intriguing light of a still wintry day. The trees lining the avenue almost completely obscure the sky. The leafless giants stand out against the black sky, but the pale green on the ground already heralds the end of winter. This avenue was a subject with which the artist engaged very intensively for over two decades. The heathland of the ‘Heller’, north of Dresden, was one of the favourite working locations of the plein air painter Otto Altenkirch. Two of the paintings presented here depict the area, which has also been used for military purposes since 1827: ‘Grenadierhöhe, Heide’ from 1923 (lot 1278) shows, emerging from the shadows, a view of the light-drenched heathland. The horizon lies high, and above it is a sky that is, for the artist, unusually calm and almost monochrome. Fifteen years later, ‘Hellerheide im Frühling’ (lot 1277) was created. Here, the pleasantly cloudy sky occupies the largest part of the picture and spans the bright, fresh green of the birch trees. In this work, Otto Altenkirch employs his impasto technique even more freely and, through his painterly means, suggests the wind blowing across the landscape. Another of the painter’s favourite motifs, depicted time and again as the seasons change, is the little river Mulde, which, flowing near his home in Siebenlehn, is still known there as the ‘Freiberger Mulde’. ‘The Frozen Mulde’ from 1932 (lot 1276) captures the unique phenomenon of a winter’s day, with a dark grey sky hanging over the snow-white landscape. With masterful skill, Otto Altenkirch depicts the riverbank, which is only partially frozen but nonetheless covered in snow. Seven years later, in 1939, Otto Altenkirch painted ‘Mulde in Autumn Mist’ (lot 1281). The restrained impasto of the paint application in the area of the water’s surface is striking within the painting. Lively little details, such as the leaves floating on the water in the foreground or the shadowy ducks in the sky, reveal yet another side to Otto Altenkirch. Provenance: - Private ownership, Germany; Max Sinz Art Gallery, Dresden 1936. Exhibition: Art exhibition in Wurzen, November 1940. Literature: M. Petrasch: Otto Altenkirch 1875–1945. Leben und Werk, Dresden 2005, p. 299, no. 1932-6-S. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: The lot is unsuitable for parcel shipping. Transport only by shipping company after consultation following the auction. additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: max. 41.65 Euro over a total invoice amount of 25,000 Euros: 1.8 o/oo USA by individual arrangement after the auction. #Otto Altenkirch #Berliner Schule #Post Impressionism #Germany #1. H. 20th C.