11th Dec, 2024 12:00
Fine Paintings & Works on Paper
19
FRIEDERICH WILHELM OTTO MODERSOHN (GERMAN 1865-1943)
HOUSE AMONG TREES
dated 886 lower left
oil on board
35.5 x 30cm; 14 x 12in
57 x 51cm; 22 1/2 x 20in (framed)
Property from a London Collection
Provenance
Acquired by the grandfather of the present owner in Stuttgart in the 1960s
Authenticated by Christian Modersohn, the artist's son, on the reverse: Dieses Bild stammt von Otto Modersohn / Aus dem datire 1886 / Chris Modersohn / Gailenberg / 22.8.51
Painted in 1886, as the present work attests, Otto Modersohn developed his painterly style working outdoors en plein air, heavily influenced by Corot and the Barbizon School of artists. In 1897 he co-founded the Worpswede Art Colony near Bremen together with fellow landscapists and Düsseldorf Kunstakademie students Fritz Mackeson (1866-1963), Fritz Overbeck (1869-1909) and Heinrich Vogeler (1872-1942).
The group took on several students, amongst them Paula Becker (1876-1907) who joined in 1898, and whom - following the death of his first wife - Otto Modersohn married in 1901. In the years that followed Otto Modersohn continued largely at Worpswede as a landscape painter, whilst his wife Modersohn-Becker forged her own distinctive early Expressionist style for which she is now celebrated, but died tragically young after their first child was born in 1907.
Following Paula's death Modersohn moved away from the area, eventually acquiring an old farmhouse in Gailenberg in Bad Hindelang, southern Germany in 1933 where he kept a studio for the remainder of his life. His oeuvre was extensive, and can be seen in Worpswede and museums devoted to both his and Paula's work in Fischerhude and Tecklenburg, Westphalia.
Sold for £3,000
HOUSE AMONG TREES
dated 886 lower left
oil on board
35.5 x 30cm; 14 x 12in
57 x 51cm; 22 1/2 x 20in (framed)
Property from a London Collection
Provenance
Acquired by the grandfather of the present owner in Stuttgart in the 1960s
Authenticated by Christian Modersohn, the artist's son, on the reverse: Dieses Bild stammt von Otto Modersohn / Aus dem datire 1886 / Chris Modersohn / Gailenberg / 22.8.51
Painted in 1886, as the present work attests, Otto Modersohn developed his painterly style working outdoors en plein air, heavily influenced by Corot and the Barbizon School of artists. In 1897 he co-founded the Worpswede Art Colony near Bremen together with fellow landscapists and Düsseldorf Kunstakademie students Fritz Mackeson (1866-1963), Fritz Overbeck (1869-1909) and Heinrich Vogeler (1872-1942).
The group took on several students, amongst them Paula Becker (1876-1907) who joined in 1898, and whom - following the death of his first wife - Otto Modersohn married in 1901. In the years that followed Otto Modersohn continued largely at Worpswede as a landscape painter, whilst his wife Modersohn-Becker forged her own distinctive early Expressionist style for which she is now celebrated, but died tragically young after their first child was born in 1907.
Following Paula's death Modersohn moved away from the area, eventually acquiring an old farmhouse in Gailenberg in Bad Hindelang, southern Germany in 1933 where he kept a studio for the remainder of his life. His oeuvre was extensive, and can be seen in Worpswede and museums devoted to both his and Paula's work in Fischerhude and Tecklenburg, Westphalia.
Auction: Fine Paintings & Works on Paper, 11th Dec, 2024
Auction Location: London, UK
Our sale of Fine Paintings and Works on Paper features 80 lots spanning four centuries. It includes works from two significant deceased estates: art dealer Alexander Iolas who promoted the bright and playful works by Jean Hugo and Niki de Sainte Phalle (lots 44-52), and gallerist Karsten Schubert, led by a green revolver on a vibrant red background by Michael Craig-Martin (lot 53), currently the subject of a retrospective at the Royal Academy, Piccadilly.
Colour dominates many of the post-War works. A stripe painting by the leading Washington Colour Field artist Gene Davis is a sale highlight. Davis worked alongside Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland also from D.C. in the 1950s and ‘60s perfecting his distinctive style. 65-6 by Davis (lot 58) dances and rhymes before the viewer’s eye. From the same collection and similarly optical are the works by Joe Tilson (lot 60) from 1965, and a rare painting by Justin Knowles (lot 59). Fellow colourist Howard Hodgkin is represented by Here we are in Croydon from 1979 (lot 63).
Modern British is led by an attractive group of watercolours by John Nash (lots 34-37), all acquired from the artist by the present owner’s grandfather. Other British figurative painters featured in the sale include Alan Lowdnes with a street scene in Altrincham near Manchester (lot 40), and three sketches by the young Michael Andrews (lots 41-43). Elsewhere there are works by John Piper and humorous illustrations by graphic artists Ronald Searle and Quentin Blake (lots 71 & 72).
Artists from further afield include two 18th/ 19th century Cuzco paintings from Peru and good Australian examples: a watercolour by John Russell of the Pont de Neuilly, and an atmospheric painting of a dust storm in the New South Wales out back by John Charles Goodhart of 1907 capturing a storm that year (lots 31 & 38). ‘en plein-air’-ists in the sale include Otto Modersohn, co-founder of Worpswede school in Bavaria in the 1890s (lot 19) and three delightful paintings of children by Scottish painter Gemmel Hutchison, influenced by Barbizon in France and the Hague School in Holland (lots 27, 28 & 30).
For more information please contact us | pictures@olympiaauctions.com | +44 (0)20 7806 5541
Viewing
PUBLIC EXHIBITION:
Sunday 8th December: 12:00pm to 4:00pm
Monday 9th December: 10:00am to 8:00pm
Tuesday 10th December: 10:00am to 5:00pm
