Hermann Max Pechstein

Nationalgalerie, Berlin (acquired from the artist through Galerie Gurlitt, Berlin in 1919)
De-accessioned from the above as 'degenerate art' on 12th August 1937 (inventory no. 12116)
Sale: Galerie Fischer, Lucerne, 30th June 1939, lot 112
Private Collection, Switzerland (purchased at the above sale. Sold: Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, 30th May - 1st June 1988, lot 985)
Private Collection (purchased at the above sale)
Acquired by the present owner in 1988

Unna, Schloss Cappenberg, Max Pechstein, 1989, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Verzeichnis der Gemälde und Bildwerke in der Nationalgalerie zu Berlin, Berlin, 1923, no. 1343
Ludwig Justi, Von Corinth bis Klee: Deutsche Malkunst im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert, Ein Gang durch die Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1931, vol. I, illustrated pl. 6 
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, East Berlin & Nationalgalerie, West Berlin, Bestandskatalog, Gemälde des 20. Jahrhunderts, 1976, listed p. 98
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, East Berlin & Nationalgalerie, West Berlin, Das Schicksal einer Sammlung, Aufbau und Zerstörung der neuen Abteilung der Nationalgalerie im ehemaligen Kronprinzenpalais, Unter den Linden, 1918-1945, 1988, illustrated p. 28
Stephanie Barron (ed.), Degenerate Art: The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany (exhibition catalogue), Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles; Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago & Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin, 1991-92, illustrated p. 167
Annegret Janda & Jörn Grabowski (ed.), Kunst in Deutschland 1905-1937. Die verlorene Sammlung der Nationalgalerie im ehemaligen Kronprinzen-Palais, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin, 1992, no. 405, illustrated p. 180

The canvas is unlined. There are a few small spots of retouching in the upper left corner, an area of retouching along the bottom of the left framing edge, and two very fine intermittent lines of retouching in the red pigment to the left of the vase, only visible under ultra-violet light. Apart from a few tiny spots of paint loss in the red pigment to the left of the leaf, this work is in very good condition. Colours: Overall fairly accurate in the printed catalogue illustration, although fresher and slightly less warm in the original.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Painted in 1918, the present work is a wonderfully vivid example of the artist's mature Expressionist style. Although this was a time of smaller artistic output, the intensity and vibrancy of Pechstein's work was considerably increased, producing some of his most significant works. With its luscious colouration of saturated yellows, reds and greens and the partly abstract composition, Gladiolen is a portrayal of a still-life that demonstrates Pechstein's debt to Fauve painters such as Henri Matisse, as well as his admiration for Van Gogh. Stylistically the present work corresponds closely to the Expressionist ideas of the former Brücke member, aiming towards a distortion of form and perspective and a stridency of colour and vision. Indeed the abstracted forms in the background brilliantly underline Pechstein's continuous experimentation with the painterly language of Expressionism.

The verso of the present work depicts a fragment of an early painting by Pechstein, probably executed circa 1906 whilst the artist was taught by Professor Otto Gussmann at the academy in Dresden between 1903-06. In 1919, only one year after its execution, Gladiolen was one of the first acquisitions for the opening of the Galerie der Lebenden (Gallery of the Living), a gallery devoted to contemporary art situated in the Kronprinzenpalais as part of the Nationalgalerie, Berlin.