646 - Franz Skarbina (1849 – Berlin – 1910)

Franz Skarbina (1849 – Berlin – 1910) “Fire in Dachau” Oil on canvas. (1897). Approx. 69 x 99 cm. Signed lower left. Signed again on the reverse of the stretcher and likely titled by the artist. The National Gallery in Berlin owns a companion piece of the same dimensions as this painting, titled “Evening in the Village (Motif in Dachau)” (Ident. No. A I 619). It depicts the same view of a village, with a pond in the foreground. However, the Berlin work is an idyllic scene set in the evening, whereas in this work, the peaceful village landscape is transformed into a dramatic scene through the depiction of a fire. Ms. Bröhan writes: “The house, previously depicted as solid and sturdily built, is engulfed in bright flames; smoke and fumes hang over the village. The archives of the city of Dachau make no mention of a fire. Did Skarbina invent the event?” (p. 140). Bibliography: Bröhan, Margrit, Franz Skarbina, exhibition catalog, Bröhan Museum, Berlin 1995, b/w ill. p. 141. Exhibition: Max Liebermann and Members of the Berlin Secession. Paintings and Sculptures from the Wolfgang Schuller Collection, Museum Schlösschen im Hofgarten, Wertheim 2010, color ill. p. 105. Provenance: Volker Westphal Art Gallery, Berlin; label on the back of the stretcher; Private collection, Baden-Württemberg; acquired from the aforementioned gallery in 1984. Taxation: subject to margin scheme (VAT: Margin Scheme).