12 - Maria Melania Mutermilch (1876 - 1967) Canal Saint-Martin in Paris (recto) / Rhone in Avignon (verso), 1920s oil/canvas 60.5 x 74 cm signed l.d.: 'Muter' (recto) legacy of the artist

Maria Melania Mutermilch (1876 - 1967) Canal Saint-Martin in Paris (recto) / Rhone in Avignon (verso), 1920s oil/canvas 60.5 x 74 cm signed l.d.: 'Muter' (recto) legacy of the artist Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne private collection, Europe Mela Muter 1876-1967. Retrospektiv-Ausstellung, Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne, October 21-December 1, 1967 Mela Muter 1876-1967. Retrospektiv-Ausstellung, exhibition catalog, Galerie Gmurzynska, Cologne, Köln 1967, cat. no. 11 (ill.; as "L'aube a Marseille") Mela Muter arrived in Paris in 1901 with her husband Michal Mutermilch and their year-old son Andrew. The family settled in Montparnassie, on the left side of the Seine, in a neighborhood populated by numerous artists from Eastern Europe. Initially, the painter functioned mainly in the circle of Polish émigrés, but over time she integrated more and more strongly into the Parisian artistic and intellectual community, establishing extensive contacts. She quickly felt at home in the French capital and began to treat it as her new homeland. Recalling Rainer Marie Rilke, she wrote: "I didn't know that he also lived in Paris, in my Paris. But Paris is so multifarious, so rich, that every inhabitant of it has his own Paris, a Paris for himself." In 1927, after twenty-six years of residence, she received French citizenship. Although she often traveled in various regions of France and abroad - especially to Spain - she always returned to Paris, with which she remained connected until the end of her life. Presented in the catalog, "Canal Saint-Martin" belongs to the group of oil landscapes from the 1920s, in which the artist captured the image of her beloved city. Her interest in landscapes developed during her first stay in Spain, just before the outbreak of the First World War. In addition to exotic views from her travels, Muter was also eager to depict her immediate surroundings - Parisian streets, the Seine with its barges or Notre-Dame Cathedral. A special place in her work was occupied by bridges: the Pont Marie, Pont Saint-Michel and Pont Neuf, which she painted repeatedly, in different shots and seasons. The painting in question shows the Parisian Saint-Martin canal with barges and iceboats on the shore. The composition is built around the surface of the water, which occupies the central part of the representation and reflects the forms of architecture and greenery. Muter synthesizes blocks of houses with varied roofs and facades, juxtaposing warm shades of ochre, red and lilac with cool tones of green and bluish. Van Gogh's inspiration, meanwhile, is evident in the expressive, elongated pedal strokes and in the way the paint is applied, especially in the water and green parts. Mela Muter's landscapes show much in common with her portraits. Mieczyslaw Sterling noted that the artist, as in her depictions of people, tried to capture the hidden truth and emotional nature of nature in her landscapes. She often gave landscapes her own mood, often lined with melancholy and seriousness. However, in the case of the presented painting, instead of sadness, tranquility and harmony dominate.