1280 - ALTENKIRCH, OTTO

ALTENKIRCH, OTTO 1875 Ziesar–1945 Siebenlehn Title: Reinsberger Allee in early spring. Date: 1925. Technique: Oil on canvas. Measurement: 80.5 x 67.5cm. Notation: Signed lower right: Otto Altenkirch. Reverse: On the stretcher inscribed: ‘Alte Landstrasse’. (Reinsberger Allee) Otto Altenkirch, Dresden. Also bears the catalogue number, written by hand on the stretcher and the manufacturer’s stamp. 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. 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. Provenance: Private ownership, Germany. Exhibition: Kunstsalon Louis Bock & Sohn, Hamburg August 1926; Kunstgenossenschaftsausstellung Zwickau, Dezember 1925; Kunstsalon Gustav Gerstenberger, Chemnitz November 1925. Literature: M. Petrasch: Otto Altenkirch 1875–1945. Leben und Werk, Dresden 2005, p. 271, no. 1925-16-S. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: Inland: 77.31 Euro plus 14.69 Euro VAT EU: 100.84 Euro plus 19.16 Euro VAT Third country: 159.66 Euro plus 30.34 Euro VAT 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. #Landscape #Tree #Paintings.