Georg Tappert

Estate of the artist
Galeria Conkright, Caracas
Sale: Christie's, New York, 17th May 1984, lot 349
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Berlin, Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung, Georg Tappert: Gedächtnisschau, 1958
Kassel, Kunstverein, Georg Tappert: Gedächtnisausstellung, 1959
Fulda, Stadtschule, Berliner Künstler: Fritsch-Luckner-Tappert, 1960
Berlin, Akademie der Kunst, Georg Tappert 1880-1957: Gedächtnis-Ausstellung, 1961
New York, Leonard Hutton Galleries, A Retrospective Exhibition of Paintings by Georg Tappert, 1964, no. 17 (titled At the Tearoom and dated 1912)
Los Angeles, Ernest Raboff Gallery, Georg Tappert, 1965
Caracas, Galerie Conkright, German Expressionist Painting, 1966
Rome, Villa Massimo, 1984, no. 349
Milwaukee, Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art, Marquette University, A Focus on Images: Sense and Form, 1984-1985
Berlin, Berlinische Galerie, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Photographie und Architektur im Martin-Gropius-Bau, Ich und die Stadt: Mensch und Großstadt in der deutschen Kunst des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1987, no. 197, illustrated in colour in the catalogue
Los Angeles, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Fort Worth, Fort Worth Art Museum; Düsseldorf, Kunstmuseum and Halle, Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg, German Expressionism 1915-1925: The Second Generation, 1988-1989, no. 189, illustrated in the catalogue
The Marvin and Janet Fishman Collection: Art in Germany, 1909-1936, From Expressionism to Resistance, Berlin, Berlinische Galerie, Museum für Moderne Kunst, Photographie und Architektur; Frankfurt, Schirn Kunsthalle; Emden, Kunsthalle, Stiftung Henri Nannen; New York, The Jewish Museum; Omaha, Nebraska, Joslyn Art Museum and Atlanta, The High Museum, 1990-1992, no. 153
Art et Résistance, Les peintres allemandes de l'entre-deux-guerres - La Collection Marvin et Janet Fishman, The Hague, Museum Paleis Lange Voorhout; Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts; Stockholm, Liljevalchs Konsthall and Helsinki, Helsingin Taidehalli, 1995-1996, no. 157

The present work is a fine example of Tappert's fascination with the subject of café society, which he explored throughout his career, and particularly in the years during the First World War.  In taking up themes of the cabaret and the world of entertainment, Tappert reflects the influence of works by Pechstein and Van Dongen, who in turn drew their inspiration from French turn-of-the-century artists such as Toulouse-Lautrec.

Even though Georg Tappert served in the army during the war years, from 1915-1918, scenes of war and destruction are conspicuously absent from his œuvre.  During this period Tappert's work is dominated by nudes and scenes of the demi-monde, such as the present painting.  Unlike his contemporaries, who expressed war traumas and battle experiences through their art, Tappert found in painting a way of escaping the grim reality and creating a more pleasant imaginary world.  The subject of the Dame im Café, dressed in fashionable clothes, wearing jewellery and drinking hot chocolate, is far removed from the extreme poverty and severe food rationing that was endured by the majority in Germany at the time.