Description
Christian Rohlfs (1849 Niendorf - 1938 Hagen) "Red seascape". Original title This characteristic sheet from 1933 shows a stylized view from Ascona across Lake Maggiore to the opposite shore on the Italian side with the surrounding mountains. It comes from a series of landscapes whose light colors and high degree of abstraction are reminiscent of William Turner's almost 100 previously created seascapes. According to Prof. Dr. Paul Vogt, the sheet was "probably created from memory in the Hagen studio in the winter of 1933." For health reasons, the important German Expressionist had lived in Ascona in the Swiss canton of Ticino for most of the year since 1927. In the Weimar Republic, Rohlfs was a highly respected artist - in 1919, a large special exhibition was held in the National Gallery in Berlin to celebrate his 70th birthday, and in 1924 he was honored in Berlin with membership of the Prussian Academy of Arts. The initially contradictory art policy of the National Socialists tolerated the art of Rohlfs, who did not hold a teaching post, to a certain extent until 1937. In 1935, a lengthy, laudatory article about Rohlfs, written by Hans Pels-Leusden and featuring expressionist paintings - "a giant of forms, a magician of color" - was allowed to appear in the authoritative art magazine "Die Kunst für alle" on his 85th birthday. The last Rohlfs exhibitions took place in 1937 - at the Alex Vömel Gallery in Düsseldorf ("Watercolors from Ticino") and at the Ferdinand Moeller Gallery in Berlin ("New Watercolors [...]"). In the same year, however, Rohlfs also fell completely under the verdict of being "degenerate" and was one of the ostracized artists of modernism. As part of the state-organized "Degenerate Art" campaign, over 500 of his works were confiscated from German museums in 1937, he was banned from exhibiting and was expelled from the Academy of Arts on 7 January 1938, one day before his death. "Die Weltkunst" then reported only briefly on Rohlfs' death. In 1939, works by Rohlfs were among the "paintings and sculptures by modern masters from German museums" auctioned by the Fischer Galerie in Lucerne (alongside many other works by French and German modernists). Water tempera and colored chalk/washed Italian laid paper. R. u. monogr. and dat. "CR 33". Verso inscribed with wvz. no. 33/10 and titled "Rote Seelandschaft". 38 cm x 56 cm. Frame. Enclosed: Confirmation of authenticity by Prof. Dr. Paul Vogt, Estate of Christian Rohlfs, Essen, 04.06.2005. Wvz. Vogt 33/10 (incorrectly titled "Rot-grüne Seelandschaft" in the catalogue raisonné); the work is listed under "Nachtr. Inv. CR 432/08". Provenance: Ketterer, Munich, 06.12.2002, lot 87. Tempera and colored chalk on laid Italian paper. Monogrammed and dated "CR 33". Mentioned in the catalogue raisonné by Vogt. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Prof. Dr. Paul Vogt, Essen, 2005.
1840
Christian Rohlfs (1849 Niendorf - 1938 Hagen) "Red seascape". Original title This characteristic sheet from 1933 shows a stylized view from Ascona across Lake Maggiore to the opposite shore on the Italian side with the surrounding mountains. It comes from a series of landscapes whose light colors and high degree of abstraction are reminiscent of William Turner's almost 100 previously created seascapes. According to Prof. Dr. Paul Vogt, the sheet was "probably created from memory in the Hagen studio in the winter of 1933." For health reasons, the important German Expressionist had lived in Ascona in the Swiss canton of Ticino for most of the year since 1927. In the Weimar Republic, Rohlfs was a highly respected artist - in 1919, a large special exhibition was held in the National Gallery in Berlin to celebrate his 70th birthday, and in 1924 he was honored in Berlin with membership of the Prussian Academy of Arts. The initially contradictory art policy of the National Socialists tolerated the art of Rohlfs, who did not hold a teaching post, to a certain extent until 1937. In 1935, a lengthy, laudatory article about Rohlfs, written by Hans Pels-Leusden and featuring expressionist paintings - "a giant of forms, a magician of color" - was allowed to appear in the authoritative art magazine "Die Kunst für alle" on his 85th birthday. The last Rohlfs exhibitions took place in 1937 - at the Alex Vömel Gallery in Düsseldorf ("Watercolors from Ticino") and at the Ferdinand Moeller Gallery in Berlin ("New Watercolors [...]"). In the same year, however, Rohlfs also fell completely under the verdict of being "degenerate" and was one of the ostracized artists of modernism. As part of the state-organized "Degenerate Art" campaign, over 500 of his works were confiscated from German museums in 1937, he was banned from exhibiting and was expelled from the Academy of Arts on 7 January 1938, one day before his death. "Die Weltkunst" then reported only briefly on Rohlfs' death. In 1939, works by Rohlfs were among the "paintings and sculptures by modern masters from German museums" auctioned by the Fischer Galerie in Lucerne (alongside many other works by French and German modernists). Water tempera and colored chalk/washed Italian laid paper. R. u. monogr. and dat. "CR 33". Verso inscribed with wvz. no. 33/10 and titled "Rote Seelandschaft". 38 cm x 56 cm. Frame. Enclosed: Confirmation of authenticity by Prof. Dr. Paul Vogt, Estate of Christian Rohlfs, Essen, 04.06.2005. Wvz. Vogt 33/10 (incorrectly titled "Rot-grüne Seelandschaft" in the catalogue raisonné); the work is listed under "Nachtr. Inv. CR 432/08". Provenance: Ketterer, Munich, 06.12.2002, lot 87. Tempera and colored chalk on laid Italian paper. Monogrammed and dated "CR 33". Mentioned in the catalogue raisonné by Vogt. Accompanied by a certificate of authenticity from Prof. Dr. Paul Vogt, Essen, 2005.
