Karl Schmidt-Rottluff

Karl & Emy Schmidt-Rottluff-Stiftung, Berlin
Galerie Henze & Ketter, Wichtrach/Bern
Acquired  from the above by the present owner

 

Berlin, Brücke-Museum, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Ausstellungen zum 100. Geburtstag des Künstlers, 1984, cat. no. 66, illustrated  pl. 46

W. Grohmann, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Stuttgart 1956, p. 274 illustrated

Colours: The colours in the catalogue illustration are fairly accurate, although the overall tonality is more lively and vibrant. Condition: This work is in very good condition. Some minor spots of paint loss due to formal framing along the extremelower left edge, a few at the upper left corner and lower right corner and one of 7 cm. long along the extreme upper edge (visible in the illustration). Upon close inspection there is some minor paint shrinkage in the dark brownish colour of the trees on the left. There is one scratch in the centre of the work situated at the greenish wall.
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After a long intermezzo, between 1936-1945, during which Karl Schmidt-Rottluff was not permitted to paint owing to his status as a Degenerated Artist in the Third Reich, the founding member of the Brücke (1905-1913) gained renewed recognition, both as painter and as a professor at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Berlin, to which he was appointed in 1947. He was soon to regain his original productivity and strength and consequently the 1950s were a very satisfying and productive period, during which he produced a solid and expressively colourful body of work. At the same time, he also received many prestigious awards, culminating, in 1956, with the highest German honour; the order "Pour le Mérite".

As one of the most important artist in the development of German Expressionism, Schmidt Rottluff's method of constructing space through colour became the cornerstone of the revolutionary developments in painting during the 20^th century. Having met Erich Heckel in his early youth, Schmidt Rottluff also teamed up with Fritz Bleyl and Ernst Ludwig Kirchner to form their wildly influential movement. In 1913 the group disbanded.

Schmidt-Rottluff's later work strongly relates back to his early paintings in both the way he reduces form and his essential use of colour. They also display his further development in the way he caricaturises his forms and his use of perspective.

Weg in Ascona was painted in this productive Post-War period and is a perfect example of the matured style of Schmidt-Rottluff's work. In 1949, the year before he painted this picture, he took a trip to Ascona, where the Southern Swiss region led to a renewed inspiration for landscape painting. Bold colour-fields in both tone and shape play with the classic rules of depth and balance. A strong dynamic movement draws the viewer into the painting, down the path, beyond the trees to the left. Distant silhouettes of tree trunks and houses add a sense of angst and distress, reflecting the recent past. Yet the bright yellow foreground and the pale aura of the sun, predict a more hopeful future. The way these two fields interact formally and together frame the work, is a beautiful example of the formal command Schmidt-Rottluff has over his paintings and subject matter.

Quote: "It is difficult to decide what each of us gave to the other in terms of stimulus, because it was all very reciprocal and often shared...but what is clear is that Schmidt-Rottluff contributed the glowing and pure colour of Chemnitz."
Erich Heckel, 1952