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Ohne Titel (Zentrale Komposition mit Figuren, Stadt und Gebirge mit dem Chor einer Kirche)
Details
CARLO MENSE (1886-1965)
Ohne Titel (Zentrale Komposition mit Figuren, Stadt und Gebirge mit dem Chor einer Kirche)
signed 'C. Mense.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
25 1⁄2 x 21 1⁄4 in. (65.7 x 54 cm.)
Painted circa 1916-1917
A collection’s many journeys
The works in this family collection were carefully brought together by a passionate collector and enthusiast of the arts over a period of almost thirty years, starting in the early 1960s. Works were bought after much consideration from a few trusted gallerists, occasionally at auction, or, wherever possible, from the artists themselves. Treasures that artists including Hannah Hoch and Walter Dexel had hidden during the Second World War were finally purchased with a combination of money and charm after much discussion of their respective merits. Emerging artists including Richard Oelze and Friedensreich Hundertwasser were supported with, for example, the occasional purchase of a work. The collector would drive through the night across Germany and Switzerland to visit artist friends, attend museum openings or view auction previews. Each new purchase was shown to the family and explained and discussed before finding its place on the walls of the family home. This was not investment, this was a ceaseless passion. The collection was to be enjoyed, on the walls of the family home, and also by the general public – no museum loan request was declined and as the reputation of the rarities in this private collection grew, more museum loan requests would follow. There was a constant stream of shippers arriving at the door collecting loans for museums across Germany and the United States. The collection’s journey has continued for another thirty years in the hands of the collector’s family after his passing. Some of the masterpieces in the collection found their way to prestigious museum collections and others are now being sold, so that they can continue on the next phase of their journey.
Ohne Titel (Zentrale Komposition mit Figuren, Stadt und Gebirge mit dem Chor einer Kirche)
signed 'C. Mense.' (lower left)
oil on canvas
25 1⁄2 x 21 1⁄4 in. (65.7 x 54 cm.)
Painted circa 1916-1917
A collection’s many journeys
The works in this family collection were carefully brought together by a passionate collector and enthusiast of the arts over a period of almost thirty years, starting in the early 1960s. Works were bought after much consideration from a few trusted gallerists, occasionally at auction, or, wherever possible, from the artists themselves. Treasures that artists including Hannah Hoch and Walter Dexel had hidden during the Second World War were finally purchased with a combination of money and charm after much discussion of their respective merits. Emerging artists including Richard Oelze and Friedensreich Hundertwasser were supported with, for example, the occasional purchase of a work. The collector would drive through the night across Germany and Switzerland to visit artist friends, attend museum openings or view auction previews. Each new purchase was shown to the family and explained and discussed before finding its place on the walls of the family home. This was not investment, this was a ceaseless passion. The collection was to be enjoyed, on the walls of the family home, and also by the general public – no museum loan request was declined and as the reputation of the rarities in this private collection grew, more museum loan requests would follow. There was a constant stream of shippers arriving at the door collecting loans for museums across Germany and the United States. The collection’s journey has continued for another thirty years in the hands of the collector’s family after his passing. Some of the masterpieces in the collection found their way to prestigious museum collections and others are now being sold, so that they can continue on the next phase of their journey.
Provenance
Private collection, North Germany, by whom probably acquired before 1980.
Literature
Klara Drenker-Nagels, Carlo Mense. Sein Leben und sein Werk von 1909 bis 1939, Cologne, 1993, no. 25, p. 174 (illustrated).
Exhibited
Bonn, Städtisches Kunstmuseum, Die Rheinischen Expressioniste, August Macke und seine Malerfreunde, May - July 1979, no. 341, p. 428 (illustrated p. 322; dated 'circa 1913'); this exhibition later travelled to Krefeld, Kaiser Wilhelm Museum, August - October 1979; Wuppertal, Von der Heydt-Museum, October - December 1979.
Special Notice
Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent.
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Micol Flocchini
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