1298 - STOSKOP, GUSTAVE JACQUES

STOSKOP, GUSTAVE JACQUES 1869 Brumath (Bas-Rhin)–1944 Brumath (Bas-Rhin) Title: 'Alsatian Farmer II'. Subtitle: Alsatian Farmer. Date: 1941. Technique: Oil on panel. Dimensions: 81 x 65 cm. Inscription: Faintly legible, signed and dated in the upper right: G. Stoskopf 1941. Reverse: Signed and dated once more on the panel. Frame: Framed. Since the 17th century, and particularly during the 19th and 20th centuries, Alsace was a region fiercely contested by the German Empire and France. Preserving a regional identity during such a period of shifting nationalities—due to wars, legislation, and languages—is, on the one hand, difficult, but on the other, arguably particularly necessary. For it is “self-awareness” alone that can serve as an independent guiding principle amid the turmoil of shifting national allegiances. Gustave Stoskopf was born in Alsace and made it his life’s work to preserve the region’s indigenous traditions, culture, and language, which were under threat. The son of a tanner, he decided to develop his artistic talent as a painter in 1887, first in Paris at the Académie Colarossi and then at the Académie Julian. Partly due to the resentment he faced there as a citizen of Alsace (which at the time belonged to the German Empire), he spent a year at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. However, Stoskopf completed his studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris before settling in Strasbourg in 1894. The young painter also possessed considerable skills in literature and organization. He built up a network of contacts at the “Mehlkischt” cabaret and the “Kunschthaafe” artists’ social club, and in 1898 became a co-founder and, until 1940, director of the “Théâtre d’Alsace” in Strasbourg. He wrote acclaimed plays in the local dialect and became the region’s most important playwright (nicknamed “the Alsatian Molière”). Gustave Stoskopf’s contributions to the Alsatian language and his work as a journalist (co-founder in 1909 and editor-in-chief of the “Straßburger Neue Zeitung” until 1919, member of the board of directors of Radio-Strasbourg from 1930, and much more) were extraordinary and were honored, among other things, with his appointment as a “Ritter der Ehrenlegion” (“Knight of the Legion of Honor”) (1930) and the “Médaille d’or de la Renaissance française” (1939). Alongside his literary and journalistic activities, Gustave Stoskopf also produced an impressive body of work as a painter, with his portraits of peasants—which he began creating in the 1920s—standing out in particular. During the “New Objectivity” period, inspired by the medieval, “primitive” paintings of the Upper Rhine region, Gustave Stoskopf developed his very own visual language in the style of the Old Masters. Initially, he depicted his subjects against a dark background, but over the years he gradually lightened it. Through extreme simplification combined with meticulous detail and radical perspectives, his portraits acquire a very special charm. It is a rare pleasure to be able to present two such portraits here: The three-quarter-length portrait of a farmer in the parlor, dated 1941, bears lot number 1298. In an interior scene, in front of a wide-open front door, a farmer in traditional dress sits in a large armchair. He is an elderly man wearing a white shirt with a black neckerchief, an open, bright red vest, and black trousers. Particularly striking is the hat on his head, reminiscent of a tricorn, adorned with two decorative ribbons in blue (?), white, and red. Looking through the doorway on the left side of the painting, one’s gaze falls upon the facade of a half-timbered house with an open window. On the right, a small, framed floral still life hangs on the interior wall. The man’s wrinkled, weather-beaten face is set against the open, light-blue front door in such a way that his distinctive hat appears to protrude slightly beyond it at the side. The farmer holds his hands—with their gnarled knuckles—clasped together in his lap and, with a neutral, stern expression, gazes inward rather than at the viewer. It is a rich painting that exudes an exciting visual tension: the almost naïve-seeming, varied details in the background form a stark contrast to the masterfully rendered textural quality of the fabrics and the model’s flesh tones. The rigid, almost frozen posture of the sitter also conveys the extraordinary nature of the model sitting for a portrait in the life of an Alsatian farmer. Provenance: - Private collection, Germany. Estimated shipping costs for this lot: This lot is not suitable for parcel shipping. Transportation is available only through a shipping company, subject to consultation following the auction. Additional shipping insurance Shipping insurance up to a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: max. 41.65 euros over a total invoice amount of 25,000 euros: 1.8 per thousand Shipping to the USA by individual arrangement after the auction. #Gustave Jacques Stoskopf #France #19th/20th C. #Portrait #Farmer #Painting