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Lot Essay
This painting will be included in the forthcoming Münter catalogue raisonné being prepared by the Gabriele Münter-und Johannes Eichner-Stiftung.
The small market town of Murnau, nestled in the shadows of the Bavarian Alps, was the location for one of the most significant breakthroughs in the art of the painter, Gabriele Münter. The artist and her partner, Wassily Kandinsky, had come across Murnau during their travels through the German countryside in 1907, and were instantly attracted to the town’s picturesque setting and tranquil atmosphere. They returned the following summer, along with their friends Alexej von Jawlensky and Marianne Werefkin, and spent
the entire month of August engaged in new artistic production. This first summer in Murnau proved to be a significant turning point in the artistic growth of all four painters, with each member of the group achieving new levels of creativity, inspired by the location and driven by their exposure to one another’s art.
Münter, Kandinsky, Jawlensky and Werefkin often worked together in a communal manner during their time in Murnau, frequently painting the same scenes from different viewpoints, and pursuing similar stylistic experiments in their work. The drama and natural beauty of the broad expanses of the Murnau moors set against the scenic backdrop of the Alpine peaks provided the artists with a compelling visual environment, and the sweeping Bavarian landscape featured heavily in their output from this time. The four artists
also engaged in intense theoretical discussions, debating the aims and achievements, of their paintings and analysing the developments their work underwent in this rich, creative atmosphere.
Infused with a sense of stillness, Frühlingsstudie mit Kirche captures the quiet serenity of the surrounding countryside and distant hills bathed in Alpine sunlight. Devoid of human presence, the painting captures the tranquillity of the province so adored by the group, and the escape it offered them from the bustling metropolis of Munich. The sweeping curves of the fields in shades of green are echoed in the pale blue and lilac sky and the royal blue mountains so often repeated in Münter’s landscapes. Constructed using loose brushstrokes of complementary shades of green and blue, these elliptical curves act to draw the eye to the centre of the village, its buildings rendered in contrasting warm pinks and reds; in so doing, Münter creates an arrestingly powerful and vibrant depiction of the unity between humanity and nature.
The small market town of Murnau, nestled in the shadows of the Bavarian Alps, was the location for one of the most significant breakthroughs in the art of the painter, Gabriele Münter. The artist and her partner, Wassily Kandinsky, had come across Murnau during their travels through the German countryside in 1907, and were instantly attracted to the town’s picturesque setting and tranquil atmosphere. They returned the following summer, along with their friends Alexej von Jawlensky and Marianne Werefkin, and spent
the entire month of August engaged in new artistic production. This first summer in Murnau proved to be a significant turning point in the artistic growth of all four painters, with each member of the group achieving new levels of creativity, inspired by the location and driven by their exposure to one another’s art.
Münter, Kandinsky, Jawlensky and Werefkin often worked together in a communal manner during their time in Murnau, frequently painting the same scenes from different viewpoints, and pursuing similar stylistic experiments in their work. The drama and natural beauty of the broad expanses of the Murnau moors set against the scenic backdrop of the Alpine peaks provided the artists with a compelling visual environment, and the sweeping Bavarian landscape featured heavily in their output from this time. The four artists
also engaged in intense theoretical discussions, debating the aims and achievements, of their paintings and analysing the developments their work underwent in this rich, creative atmosphere.
Infused with a sense of stillness, Frühlingsstudie mit Kirche captures the quiet serenity of the surrounding countryside and distant hills bathed in Alpine sunlight. Devoid of human presence, the painting captures the tranquillity of the province so adored by the group, and the escape it offered them from the bustling metropolis of Munich. The sweeping curves of the fields in shades of green are echoed in the pale blue and lilac sky and the royal blue mountains so often repeated in Münter’s landscapes. Constructed using loose brushstrokes of complementary shades of green and blue, these elliptical curves act to draw the eye to the centre of the village, its buildings rendered in contrasting warm pinks and reds; in so doing, Münter creates an arrestingly powerful and vibrant depiction of the unity between humanity and nature.