7056 - Wolff, Gustav Heinrich

Wolff, Gustav Heinrich [*] "La grosse Juliette" (Courtesan in an Armchair in Front of the Stove) Gouache, black pen, and pencil on cardboard. 1910. 29 x 31 cm. Monogrammed “GHW” in black-brown pen at the lower right and dated; titled and labeled “No. 7, cf. oil painting at Mrs. Lüders’” in pencil at the top of the reverse, along with annotations. Paris, the city of love, inspired the young artist Gustav Heinrich Wolff to create a sensual depiction of the courtesan Juliette. Worldly, serene, and—despite her physical sensuality—above all in a natural pose, she sits by the warming stove, her gaze directed slightly wearily to the left. The opulence of her delicately contoured figure is accentuated by the luxuriously ornamented armchair, whose red hue is echoed in the woman’s lips and the delicate flush on her cheeks. From 1900 to 1905, Wolff lived in Rome, where he worked in Arthur Volkmann’s sculpture studio, and subsequently undertook study trips to Russia and the Balkans. Beginning in 1908, now in Paris, he began to devote himself to painting. This drawing was created during that period. Wolff “owed his loyal circle of collectors primarily to his friend and patron Max Sauerlandt, the director of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Hamburg. Sauerlandt not only collected Wolff’s works privately but also organized a solo exhibition for him at his museum (...)” (galerie20.smb.museum, accessed July 28, 2026). Provenance: Artist’s estate Private collection, Northern Germany - Please request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not listed in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.