523 - Max Radler (1904 Breslau – Munich 1971)

Max Radler (1904 Breslau – Munich 1971) Man Listening to the Radio Watercolor and pencil on paper, mounted on cardboard. (19)29. Approx. 61.5 x 47.5 cm. Signed and dated lower left, inscribed “Study for the oil painting Man Listening to the Radio” upper right. Stamped “Max Radler München” lower right. • This New Objectivity watercolor reflects the fascination with the new mass medium of radio and the technological progress of the 1920s • Unusual perspective and detailed depiction of the radio set as a symbol of modern technology • Preliminary study for the painting “The Radio Listener,” created a year later, which is now in the Lenbachhaus in Munich With the 1929 watercolor “Man Listening to the Radio,” Max Radler addresses a central theme of the social and technological changes of the Weimar Republic. In the 1920s, radio emerged as a new mass medium, bringing information, news, and entertainment into an ever-increasing number of households. The workers’ radio movement, in particular, advocated for making this new technology accessible to broader segments of the population. Building one’s own radio sets played an important role in this process. Radler devotes special attention to the radio set. Through the unusual, slightly tilted perspective and the careful depiction of its technical details, he places this modern invention at the center of the composition. The intently listening radio listener also symbolizes a society whose daily life is being fundamentally transformed by new means of communication. The work thus not only conveys the contemporary enthusiasm for technical innovations but also highlights the growing social significance of radio broadcasting. The watercolor serves as a direct preparatory study for Radler’s 1930 oil painting “The Radio Listener” (also known as “Man at the Radio”), which is now in the collection of the Lenbachhaus in Munich. Both works combine the depiction of an everyday moment with a characteristic theme of the late 1920s: the emergence of modern media in people’s lives. Provenance: Private collection, Hesse; Private collection, Berlin; Grisebach, Berlin, July 9, 2020, Lot 47; Collection, Rhineland. Taxation: subject to margin scheme (VAT: Margin Scheme).