521 - Carlo Mense (1886, Rheine – Königswinter, 1965)

Carlo Mense (1886, Rheine – Königswinter, 1965) “Self-Portrait” Oil on canvas. (1918). Approx. 46 x 35 cm. Signed lower right. Titled on the back of the stretcher. Drenker-Nagels 34. • Early work by the artist, who was just 32 years old at the time • Self-portrait in the New Objectivity style with a very personal touch • Many of Mense’s works created before 1937 were destroyed during the Nazi era With Carlo Mense, this auction features not only another New Objectivity artist but also one with a special temporal and geographical proximity to Hanns Bolz. Bolz was born in Aachen in 1885; Mense was born in Rheine in 1886. Both were therefore from the Rhineland; both studied for a time at the Düsseldorf Academy of Art; both were exposed to similar influences and turned to New Objectivity. Carlo Mense’s complete body of work demonstrates his continued development into a mature artist, whereas Bolz’s career was cut short by his untimely death. Carlo Mense painted his “Self-Portrait” in 1918. Rendered in dark tones and illuminated only by a side light source resembling a spotlight, the face appears mysterious. Mense exaggerates the shape of his face; the eyes are strikingly prominent, and the nostrils are flared. His neck appears unrealistically narrow in a high-collared shirt and bow tie. Compared to photographic portraits of the artist, it is evident that this is not a self-caricature, but merely an emphasis on his own distinctive features. Here, Mense demonstrates not only his gift for self-critical observation but, above all, the high quality of his painting so early in his career. Exhibition: Carlo Mense, Von der Heydt Museum, Wuppertal 1993, shipping label on the back of the stretcher; Magic Realism. Art in Weimar Germany 1919–33, Tate Modern, London 2018/19, exhibition catalog with illustration on p. 13. Provenance: Collection of Dr. Klaus Freckmann, Sobernheim; Private collection, Rhineland-Palatinate (since 1985); Van Ham, Cologne, May 31, 2006, Lot 422; Ubu Gallery, New York, and Galerie Berinson, Berlin, with a Galerie Berinson label on the reverse; The George Economou Collection, Athens; Collection, Rhineland, since 2021. Taxation: subject to margin scheme (VAT: Margin Scheme).