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Lot Essay
The present work by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff emphatically demonstrates the dramatic shift away from the gentle flowing brushstrokes of Impressionism, and instead poses a new dynamic plane of perception - one concerned with colour, composition and line. Wald und Frau (Forest and Woman) offers a succinct amalgam of fauvist influence, German Expressionism, and a newfound fantastical utopianism that surfaced in the years following the First World War.
When posed the infinite question ‘What is German Expressionism?’ in 1920, Max Pechstein responded: ‘Work! Intoxication! Brain-racking! Chewing, eating, gorging, rooting up! Rapturous birth pangs! Jabbing of the brush, preferably right through the canvas. Trampling on paint tubes’ (M. Pechstein in N. Wolf, Expressionism, Cologne, 2004, p. 8). German Expressionism serves as an umbrella term for two prominent artist groups working out of the early 20th century. Die Brücke, or The Bridge, was spearheaded by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in Dresden in 1905, and comprised artists: Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Erich Heckel, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein. Its Munich-counterpart, Der Blaue Reiter, or, The Blue Rider, was founded by Wassily Kandinsky in 1911 and its members included Auguste Macke, Paul Klee, and Franz Marc. Though each group underpins a determination toward a general goal of expressionism: producing artwork intent on invoking feeling or emotion, their motivations were slightly disparate.
Die Brücke focused their ambition in depicting the intricacies and ugly truths of modern life via the use of exuberant colour, emotional sensitivity, and jagged line. They situated the person among the scene, generating abundant portraiture, intent on degrading bourgeois customs and debunking tradition. Der Blaue Reiter were united via a joint love of nature, music and mysticism and implemented shape and line to express movement, form and the human spirit. Themes prevalent in this artistic output included nature and animals, and urban and rural landscape in conjunction with social scenes. Both groups were intent on divulging from tradition: one renouncing and uncompromising.
Though both groups saw a natural end coinciding with the first World War, the fundamentals of form, colour and line transpose into the artwork that succeeds. Schmidt-Rottluff has been accredited for spearheading the stint of optimism that followed between 1918 and 1920, with many of his works allegorising a new egalitarian and utopian age of man. Levitating figures responding to stars, moons and suns became typified imagery of this period that has since been loosely referred to as a type of cosmic expressionism. This present image is captivating; Schmidt-Rottluff’s raw use of colour and simplistic forms make the composition feel fantastical. His reductive approach to paint application and line expertly adds to this effect. Star-like forms offer an impression of flowering foliage amidst a backdrop of worming red tree trunks that disappear into the variegated greens of the canopy above. The figure, outlined, is encompassed with brushes of green and yellow from the background; this situates the person and nature as entwined, and the implication of movement signals a navigation of the pictorial plane. Though simplistic in form, the curved arms and naive impression of facial features add to the scene’s mysticism; our emotion toward the scene is generated via the figure’s position within it and not the figure itself. We are invited to view the figure as one floating, enmeshed in a bewitching realm - reminiscent of a work by Schmidt-Rottluff painted a year prior: Sternenandacht.
hough unique in his response to artistic and social influence, Schmidt-Rottluff has often expressed his influence of the Fauves: Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck to name but a few, and the present work entertains this influence. Fauvism, a movement that coincided with Die Brücke, was founded on principles of colour and line – much like the later German Expressionist groups. The Fauves were pioneers in utilising non-representational colour and loose brushstrokes to make their work appear abstract. Paysage a Cassis by André Derain serves as a muted reminder of our work – with similar jagged tree forms interrupting a larger landscape. Compositionally similar, it is clear that the artist’s intent in each case is for line to drive our perspective and for our focal point to be led by nature. In contrast, a further work by Derain emblematises a more stereotypically Fauvist palette – with bright hues of blue, red and pink masquerading as true colours of our lived environment. This freeing use of colour is present in our current work, with strong primary and secondary colours making up the composition. The latter work’s inclusion of figures mirrors the whimsical frivolity present in Wald und Frau, while its looser brushwork marks it as notably fauve. The figurative outlines visible between the trees almost serve as an ode to the harsh linework we see in the movements that follow.
Though unique in his response to artistic and social influence, Schmidt-Rottluff has often expressed his influence of the Fauves: Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck to name but a few, and the present work entertains this influence. Fauvism, a movement that coincided with Die Brücke, was founded on principles of colour and line – much like the later German Expressionist groups. The Fauves were pioneers in utilising non-representational colour and loose brushstrokes to make their work appear abstract. Paysage a Cassis by André Derain serves as a muted reminder of our work – with similar jagged tree forms interrupting a larger landscape. Compositionally similar, it is clear that the artist’s intent in each case is for line to drive our perspective and for our focal point to be led by nature. In contrast, a further work by Derain emblematises a more stereotypically Fauvist palette – with bright hues of blue, red and pink masquerading as true colours of our lived environment. This freeing use of colour is present in our current work, with strong primary and secondary colours making up the composition. The latter work’s inclusion of figures mirrors the whimsical frivolity present in Wald und Frau, while its looser brushwork marks it as notably fauve. The figurative outlines visible between the trees almost serve as an ode to the harsh linework we see in the movements that follow.
When posed the infinite question ‘What is German Expressionism?’ in 1920, Max Pechstein responded: ‘Work! Intoxication! Brain-racking! Chewing, eating, gorging, rooting up! Rapturous birth pangs! Jabbing of the brush, preferably right through the canvas. Trampling on paint tubes’ (M. Pechstein in N. Wolf, Expressionism, Cologne, 2004, p. 8). German Expressionism serves as an umbrella term for two prominent artist groups working out of the early 20th century. Die Brücke, or The Bridge, was spearheaded by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner in Dresden in 1905, and comprised artists: Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Erich Heckel, Otto Mueller, Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein. Its Munich-counterpart, Der Blaue Reiter, or, The Blue Rider, was founded by Wassily Kandinsky in 1911 and its members included Auguste Macke, Paul Klee, and Franz Marc. Though each group underpins a determination toward a general goal of expressionism: producing artwork intent on invoking feeling or emotion, their motivations were slightly disparate.
Die Brücke focused their ambition in depicting the intricacies and ugly truths of modern life via the use of exuberant colour, emotional sensitivity, and jagged line. They situated the person among the scene, generating abundant portraiture, intent on degrading bourgeois customs and debunking tradition. Der Blaue Reiter were united via a joint love of nature, music and mysticism and implemented shape and line to express movement, form and the human spirit. Themes prevalent in this artistic output included nature and animals, and urban and rural landscape in conjunction with social scenes. Both groups were intent on divulging from tradition: one renouncing and uncompromising.
Though both groups saw a natural end coinciding with the first World War, the fundamentals of form, colour and line transpose into the artwork that succeeds. Schmidt-Rottluff has been accredited for spearheading the stint of optimism that followed between 1918 and 1920, with many of his works allegorising a new egalitarian and utopian age of man. Levitating figures responding to stars, moons and suns became typified imagery of this period that has since been loosely referred to as a type of cosmic expressionism. This present image is captivating; Schmidt-Rottluff’s raw use of colour and simplistic forms make the composition feel fantastical. His reductive approach to paint application and line expertly adds to this effect. Star-like forms offer an impression of flowering foliage amidst a backdrop of worming red tree trunks that disappear into the variegated greens of the canopy above. The figure, outlined, is encompassed with brushes of green and yellow from the background; this situates the person and nature as entwined, and the implication of movement signals a navigation of the pictorial plane. Though simplistic in form, the curved arms and naive impression of facial features add to the scene’s mysticism; our emotion toward the scene is generated via the figure’s position within it and not the figure itself. We are invited to view the figure as one floating, enmeshed in a bewitching realm - reminiscent of a work by Schmidt-Rottluff painted a year prior: Sternenandacht.
hough unique in his response to artistic and social influence, Schmidt-Rottluff has often expressed his influence of the Fauves: Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck to name but a few, and the present work entertains this influence. Fauvism, a movement that coincided with Die Brücke, was founded on principles of colour and line – much like the later German Expressionist groups. The Fauves were pioneers in utilising non-representational colour and loose brushstrokes to make their work appear abstract. Paysage a Cassis by André Derain serves as a muted reminder of our work – with similar jagged tree forms interrupting a larger landscape. Compositionally similar, it is clear that the artist’s intent in each case is for line to drive our perspective and for our focal point to be led by nature. In contrast, a further work by Derain emblematises a more stereotypically Fauvist palette – with bright hues of blue, red and pink masquerading as true colours of our lived environment. This freeing use of colour is present in our current work, with strong primary and secondary colours making up the composition. The latter work’s inclusion of figures mirrors the whimsical frivolity present in Wald und Frau, while its looser brushwork marks it as notably fauve. The figurative outlines visible between the trees almost serve as an ode to the harsh linework we see in the movements that follow.
Though unique in his response to artistic and social influence, Schmidt-Rottluff has often expressed his influence of the Fauves: Matisse, Derain and Vlaminck to name but a few, and the present work entertains this influence. Fauvism, a movement that coincided with Die Brücke, was founded on principles of colour and line – much like the later German Expressionist groups. The Fauves were pioneers in utilising non-representational colour and loose brushstrokes to make their work appear abstract. Paysage a Cassis by André Derain serves as a muted reminder of our work – with similar jagged tree forms interrupting a larger landscape. Compositionally similar, it is clear that the artist’s intent in each case is for line to drive our perspective and for our focal point to be led by nature. In contrast, a further work by Derain emblematises a more stereotypically Fauvist palette – with bright hues of blue, red and pink masquerading as true colours of our lived environment. This freeing use of colour is present in our current work, with strong primary and secondary colours making up the composition. The latter work’s inclusion of figures mirrors the whimsical frivolity present in Wald und Frau, while its looser brushwork marks it as notably fauve. The figurative outlines visible between the trees almost serve as an ode to the harsh linework we see in the movements that follow.