3027 - CUNO AMIET

CUNO AMIET (Solothurn 1868–1961 Oschwand) Flower Still Life with Red Panicle. 1905. Oil on canvas mounted on hardboard. Monogrammed lower right: CA. Inscribed and dated on the reverse: “von A. und C. Amiet, Christmas 1942, painted in 1905.” 40.5 × 32.5 cm. Provenance: - Private collection, Eduard Gerber, Bern, received directly from the artist in 1942. - Private collection, Switzerland. Exhibited: - Zurich 1979, Cuno Amiet and the Painters of Die Brücke, Kunsthaus Zürich, May 18–August 5, 1979, no. 42, as “Stillleben mit Blumen” (label on the reverse). - Olten and Thun 1988, Cuno Amiet: The Eduard Gerber Collection. Bern, Kunstmuseum Olten, March 19–May 8, 1988; Kunstmuseum Thun, June 23–July 24, 1988, no. 5 (label on the reverse). - Bern 2011/12, Amiet: Joy of My Life. The Eduard Gerber Collection, Kunstmuseum Bern, August 19, 2011–January 15, 2012, no. 17, as “Flower Still Life with Red Panicle” (label on the reverse). Bibliography: - Peter Killer and Urs Zaugg: Cuno Amiet. A Passion. The Eduard Gerber Collection (Bern), Stäfa 1988, p. 30, no. 5 (ill.). - Caroline Kesser: “Expressionism,” in: exhibition catalog Expressionism, Bern 2011, p. 55. - Exhibition catalog Amiet: Joy of My Life. The Eduard Gerber Collection, Bern 2011/12, p. 46, no. 17 (ill.). - Therese Bhattacharya-Stettler: “Amiet’s Beginnings: In Search of Light and Color,” in: exhibition catalog *Amiet: Joy of My Life. The Eduard Gerber Collection*, Bern 2011/12, p. 30. - Franz Müller and Viola Radlach: Cuno Amiet. The Paintings 1883–1919, ed. Swiss Institute for Art Research, Zurich 2014, vol. I, p. 261, no. 1905.26 (ill.). When the young collector Eduard Gerber was invited to choose a painting from Cuno Amiet’s studio at Christmas 1942, he selected a small floral still life hanging beside the studio door, affectionately known to Anna Amiet as “Zärteli” (Killer 1998 II, p. 30). The still life depicts luminous orange-red daylilies, their delicate stems extending diagonally across the picture. The flowers stand out vividly against the blue-violet background. With loose brushstrokes and bold color contrasts, Amiet imbues the simple composition with remarkable vitality. From 1905 onward, Amiet increasingly turned to still-life painting, perhaps distancing himself from Ferdinand Hodler and returning to the artistic ideas he had encountered in Pont-Aven. In this appealing work, he brings together the influences of his great models, Van Gogh and Gauguin, to forge a distinctive pictorial language.