7113 - Peiffer-Watenphul, Max

Peiffer-Watenphul, Max Flower Still Life with a Chinese Vase Watercolor and pencil on Ingres handmade paper. 1936. 44.3 x 35.6 cm. Signed “Watenphul” in pencil lower right, dated and inscribed “March.” Pasqualucci A 215. Peiffer vividly renders the space surrounding the delicate, ethereal composition with brush dabs and vertical pencil strokes, thereby enhancing the cheerful, lively effect of the floral still life. Luminous shades of pink, yellow, blue, and green stand out against the shimmering light background, making the composition sparkle with joie de vivre and sensitivity. After teaching at the Folkwang School in Essen, Max Peiffer-Watenphul decided in 1933 to leave Germany and settle in Italy. On the Mediterranean island of Ischia, he met the painters Werner Gilles and Hans Purrmann, who had also emigrated. The works—primarily floral still lifes—created in southern Italy in the years that followed feature an almost baroquely opulent color palette that verges on an explosion of color and is devoted more to life than to transience. Provenance: Venator & Hanstein, Cologne, Auction March 29, 2025, Lot 1045 Private collection, Dortmund - Please request condition reports for the lots, as the condition is usually not specified in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.