7023 - Durm, Leopold

Durm, Leopold [^] Girl with a Doll Oil on canvas. 1912. 80 x 60 cm. Signed "Leopold Durm" in blue with a brush and dated in the lower right corner. Like a little queen, the girl sits on the Art Deco throne with her doll in her arms. Clear, graphic patterns of lines and checks adorn the seat and canopy, while the light-colored rectangle in the center provides a shimmering backdrop for the figure and the alert, lively child’s face. The colorful butterfly blouse underscores her expression of effervescent energy. Thanks to the loose brushwork and the subtly coordinated color palette, the serene central composition is imbued with a delicate vibrancy. The much-loved, rather shaggy doll is missing a leg, and Durm compensates for the missing arm by placing the lively girl’s arm exactly in its place. This loving intertwining of child and doll transforms the carefully observed image into a very intimate, personal portrait. As a member of the “Scholle” artists’ association and closely associated with the Munich Secession, the long-forgotten physician and painter Durm—who lived in the Holzhausen artists’ colony—found himself at the heart of the Munich art avant-garde. Even back then, Durm’s precise rendering of linear subtleties—and in particular the harmonious balance between psychological depth and realism in his portraits—impressed his contemporaries (Hermann Esswein, in: Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, Vol. 40, 1917, p. 326ff.). Provenance: Private collection, USA - Please request condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.