.jpg?w=1)
拍品專文
In his early career, Pechstein, who had been one of the most well-known exponents of the German Expressionist group Die Brücke, had put faith in the notion of a 'return to Nature' in an effort to conjure true and innate emotion which could then be effectively translated onto the canvas. After the war and the political turmoil that succeeded it, nature once more took centre stage in his work; a raw and direct response to his environment allowed Pechstein to create a truly spontaneous and instinctive art, unsullied by the cultural conditioning of modern life.
Waldweg is a characteristically emotive rendering of nature showing a foreboding path which leads into the darkness of a shadowy forest. The trees, which bend across this tunneled trail, have become anthropomorphic as their dark purple branches reach out ominously, luring the tentative viewer in. In the foreground the path glows red, as if to warn and childhood fears of the dark unknown are resurrected as the viewers eye is drawn down the path despite any hesitations. The tunnel appears to lead to an unexplored inky clearing, lit only by a small flash of vibrant lilac. This play on childhood fears and innate anxiety may have a cultural link to Grimm's Fairy Tales which encouraged an irrational disquiet, even in the adult reader.
In Waldweg, Pechstein imbues the most familiar of scenes with a mysterious sense of unease. He encourages an intuitive reading of nature as this forest is recognised by the viewer both emotionally and visibly. As the critic Paul Fetcher put it, Pechstein 'not only maintains a relation to the world, but intensifies it to the highest possible degree ... He thus expresses his life as this felt existence of things' (Paul Fetcher, quoted in R.-C. Washton-Long, ed., German Expressionism, Berkeley, 1995, p. 216).
Waldweg is a characteristically emotive rendering of nature showing a foreboding path which leads into the darkness of a shadowy forest. The trees, which bend across this tunneled trail, have become anthropomorphic as their dark purple branches reach out ominously, luring the tentative viewer in. In the foreground the path glows red, as if to warn and childhood fears of the dark unknown are resurrected as the viewers eye is drawn down the path despite any hesitations. The tunnel appears to lead to an unexplored inky clearing, lit only by a small flash of vibrant lilac. This play on childhood fears and innate anxiety may have a cultural link to Grimm's Fairy Tales which encouraged an irrational disquiet, even in the adult reader.
In Waldweg, Pechstein imbues the most familiar of scenes with a mysterious sense of unease. He encourages an intuitive reading of nature as this forest is recognised by the viewer both emotionally and visibly. As the critic Paul Fetcher put it, Pechstein 'not only maintains a relation to the world, but intensifies it to the highest possible degree ... He thus expresses his life as this felt existence of things' (Paul Fetcher, quoted in R.-C. Washton-Long, ed., German Expressionism, Berkeley, 1995, p. 216).