7015 - Stekker, Martin

Stekker, Martin Seated Nude Oil on canvas. Circa 1905. 101 x 77 cm. Signed “Stekker” in light brown with a brush in the lower left corner; on the reverse side of the stretcher, bearing the estate stamp, signed “Ruth Kretschmer, née Stekker” in black with a felt-tip pen. Stekker G 23. Stekker subtly captures the young, half-naked female figure—her natural posture, turned slightly to the right; her pensive facial expression; and the shimmer of the light flesh tones, which contrast beautifully with the deep darkness of the blanket draped over her legs at the bottom of the painting. Using generous, modeling strokes, he places the short, straight strokes of the broad brush side by side and on top of one another, following the anatomical contours with their orientation and creating a nude portrait that is impressively intimate in both mood and composition. Stekker almost never signed his paintings—he did so only when a work, like this one, had turned out perfectly in his eyes. Provenance: From the artist’s estate Private collection, Berlin Lit.: Poetry in Everyday Life. The Draftsman and Painter Martin Stekker, ed. C. Gerner, exhibition catalog, Museum Reinickendorf, Berlin 2015, ill. 82, p. 73 - Please request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is listed in the catalog only in exceptional cases. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.