7195 - Strempel, Horst

Strempel, Horst "Still Life with a Black Jug and a Pear" Oil on hardboard. 1954. 34 x 42 cm. Monogrammed "St." in white with a brush in the lower left corner and dated; on the reverse, signed “H. Strempel” in black with a brush, dated, titled, with dimensions, and labeled “CAT. NO. 54.” Saure 349 (ill. not included). Strempel arranges a sparse selection of abstracted yet clearly recognizable objects, creating a striking contrast between black and white, red and green, and positions the objects on an undefined, reddish surface against a gray background. His brushwork is flat but recedes behind the lively, dynamic surface texture created with sponges. An almost oval shape encloses the arrangement, creating the effect of a picture within a picture. After studying under Otto Mueller and Oskar Moll at the Breslau Academy in the 1920s, he settled in Berlin in 1927 and studied under Karl Hofer. Much of his work was lost amid the turmoil of war and his flight from the city. In 1953, one year before this still life was created, Strempel fled from East Berlin to the western part of the city, where he was not recognized as a refugee for a long time. Provenance: Private collection, Berlin - Please ask for 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.