660 - Walter Leistikow (1865 Bromberg – Berlin 1908)

Walter Leistikow (1865 Bromberg – Berlin 1908) Thatched-Roof House in the Garden Oil on canvas. (c. 1900). Approx. 74.5 x 94 cm. Signed lower left. • Leistikow was one of the co-founders of the Berlin Secession • His works exude a deep sense of solitude, tranquility, and melancholy • As a visionary curator, Leistikow ensured that the European avant-garde reached a broad audience in Berlin While his life was marked by a constant pursuit of the avant-garde and work in art policy—and ended tragically when the artist took his own life in 1908 due to a syphilis infection—Leistikow’s paintings initially radiate a contemplative calm. His life’s achievements are remarkable: he not only created panel paintings but also worked as a designer and writer. Among other things, he co-founded the group “Die XI,” the “Deutscher Künstlerbund,” and the “Berliner Secession.” He worked against the traditional concept of art, embraced new movements, and championed misunderstood colleagues such as Edvard Munch. In contrast are his landscapes. Serene, tranquil nature radiates the stability and peace characteristic of northern Germany and Denmark (Leistikow was married to a woman from Copenhagen). In the best sense of the word, a lush green garden gently envelops a thatched-roof house in the work on display. The tamed nature of the park-like setting invites viewers to contemplate, just as the garden likely once invited the house’s inhabitants. For the moment of contemplation, man and landscape become one in this exceptionally charming piece by Leistikow—a symphony in green, as it were. Exhibition: Berliner Secession, Neuer Berliner Kunstverein, 1981, cat. no. 242, color ill. (“House in the Park”), label on the back of the stretcher; Walter Leistikow, Kunsthalle Kiel, 1989/90, label on the back of the stretcher; 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. 58. Provenance: Galerie Bubenik, Munich, label on the back of the stretcher; Private collection, Baden-Württemberg, acquired from the aforementioned gallery in 1980. Taxation: subject to margin scheme (VAT: Margin Scheme).