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Lot Essay
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Bernhard Geil based on photographs.
From 1909 until 1913 Max Slevogt spent the summer months at Godramstein near Landau in the Palatinate, where his wife's parents lived. Involved in the Berlin Secession movement with Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth, life in a small village in a beautiful natural setting provided a welcome change of scene for his wife and their two children. Slevogt painted many landscapes in the garden of the villa and the immediate surroundings in 1909-10. He abandoned the dark palette he had been taught to use at the art academy in Munich, to explore under the sway of French Impressionism and influenced by Vincent van Gogh. These landscapes are characterized by a summery joie de vivre and are painted in exquisitely glowing, intense colours.
Since the late 1890´s Slevogt had been engaged in an investigation of the human figure. Influences of French artists became visible. In the autumn of 1889, Paul and Bruno Cassirer organised an exhibition with work by Monet and other French painters in Berlin, along with some of Slevogt's paintings. The freshness of handling and the vibrancy of the palette were an eye-opener for the artist. Slevogt was particularly taken by Manet. “I admired Manet so much, because, in him, I found what makes the world so beautiful” (op. cit. B. Geil a.o., German Impressionist Landscape Painting Liebermann-Corinth-Slevogt, Stuttgart 2010).
In 'Selbstbildnis im Garten' the artist is in direct contact with the viewer, with his ever-present cigar he seems calm and confident. The work combines the liveliness of the sun-lit summer landscape and a self portrait of the artist at the peak of his artistic career.
The first owner of 'Selbstbildnis im Garten', Carl Steinbart (1852-1923) was a banker, art dealer and art collector. He owned one of the largest collections of Slevogt's work, consisting of at least 80 paintings. Slevogt portrayed Steinbart and his family members several times.
From 1909 until 1913 Max Slevogt spent the summer months at Godramstein near Landau in the Palatinate, where his wife's parents lived. Involved in the Berlin Secession movement with Max Liebermann and Lovis Corinth, life in a small village in a beautiful natural setting provided a welcome change of scene for his wife and their two children. Slevogt painted many landscapes in the garden of the villa and the immediate surroundings in 1909-10. He abandoned the dark palette he had been taught to use at the art academy in Munich, to explore under the sway of French Impressionism and influenced by Vincent van Gogh. These landscapes are characterized by a summery joie de vivre and are painted in exquisitely glowing, intense colours.
Since the late 1890´s Slevogt had been engaged in an investigation of the human figure. Influences of French artists became visible. In the autumn of 1889, Paul and Bruno Cassirer organised an exhibition with work by Monet and other French painters in Berlin, along with some of Slevogt's paintings. The freshness of handling and the vibrancy of the palette were an eye-opener for the artist. Slevogt was particularly taken by Manet. “I admired Manet so much, because, in him, I found what makes the world so beautiful” (op. cit. B. Geil a.o., German Impressionist Landscape Painting Liebermann-Corinth-Slevogt, Stuttgart 2010).
In 'Selbstbildnis im Garten' the artist is in direct contact with the viewer, with his ever-present cigar he seems calm and confident. The work combines the liveliness of the sun-lit summer landscape and a self portrait of the artist at the peak of his artistic career.
The first owner of 'Selbstbildnis im Garten', Carl Steinbart (1852-1923) was a banker, art dealer and art collector. He owned one of the largest collections of Slevogt's work, consisting of at least 80 paintings. Slevogt portrayed Steinbart and his family members several times.