164 - Max Slevogt

Max Slevogt Baumgruppe bei Neukastel 1931 Oil on artist's board, mounted on wood. 38 x 54.6 cm. Framed. Signed 'Slevogt' in light brown lower right. Collector's stamp of Sanitätsrat Dr. med. Theodor Kiefer, Kaiserslautern, verso. - Artist's board bent at the top left, a minor paint loss; lightly rubbed in the sky area. Imiela p. 261, 439, annot. 2 We would like to thank Karoline Feulner, Max Slevogt-Forschungszentrum, GDKE, Landesmuseum Mainz, for supplementary information. We would like to thank Bernhard Geil for affirmative and additional informationen. Provenance Sanitätsrat Dr. med. Theodor Kiefer Collection, Kaiserslautern; private ownership, Rhineland-Palatinate; private collection, Baden-Wuerttemberg Exhibitions Kaiserslautern/Basel/Wuppertal 1968 (Pfalzgalerie/Kunsthalle/Kunst- und Museumsverein), Max Slevogt zum 100. Geburtstag, cat. no. 176; Edenkoben 1982 (Max Slevogt-Galerie auf Schloss 'Villa Ludwigshöhe'), Pfälzische Landschaften. Max Slevogt 1968-1932, p. 104-105 (label verso) Literature Ewalt Skulima, Max Slevogt malt die Pfalz, in: Das neue Kunstarchiv, Bd. 2, hg. von der Pfälzer Künstlergenossenschaft, Speyer 1970, without p.; Berthold Roland, Max Slevogt - Pfälzische Landschaften. Mit Texten von Wilken von Alten, Johannes Guthmann i.a., Munich 1991, S. 218-219 Max Slevogt sometimes chose unspectacular views for his landscapes – yet still turned them into masterpieces of painting. In the case of the autumn landscape "Baumgruppe bei Neukastel", the view is from the terrace at Neukastel towards the Leinsweiler Valley, with the Hämmelsberg to the right. Slevogt is likely to have adopted a lower vantage point, as only the tops of the trees standing below Neukastel are visible. Masterful brushstrokes transform the autumn landscape into a symphony of gold, ochre and brown tones, complemented by a rich palette of blues and greys for the sky. The painting forms part of a ten-part series of Slevogt’s final landscapes from October 1931. The circumstances in which these works were created are described with wonderful vividness by Slevogt’s doctor, Heinrich Diehl, who was apparently present whilst they were being painted: "In the glorious October of 1931, the last he ever experienced, he painted ten landscapes on small wooden panels. They were his final landscape paintings [...], works of the highest artistry. Day after day, he would go out to the pergola or to the edge of the nearby wood and paint. [...] as the season progressed, his palette grew ever lighter and more colourful, until [...] the chestnut forest and the vineyards shone with a radiant golden glow.” (quoted from: Max Slevogt, exh. cat., Saarbrücken/Mainz 1992, p. 473). If one compares this work with his earlier landscapes, it may also be interpreted as a symbol of his farewell to a life well lived.