Lot 1
  • 1

Max Dungert

Estimate
8,000 - 12,000 GBP
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Description

  • Max Dungert
  • In the Cafe
  • signed and indistinctly dated M. Dungert 19 lower right; signed and dated DUNGERT / BERLIN / 1919 on the stretcher
  • oil on canvas
  • 81 by 86cm., 32 by 34¼in.

Provenance

George Antheil (uncle of the present owner, acquired from the artist, a friend); thence by descent

Condition

The canvas has been strip-lined along the tacking edges, retaining the original upper stretcher bar only. Under ultra-violet light some of the artist's pigments fluoresce however these do not appear to correspond to signs of retouching. As visible in the catalogue illustration there are scattered small areas of paint flaking which could benefit from consolidation and retouching if desired, however these are mostly minor given the overall size of the work and the painting is otherwise in good original condition. Presented in a simple narrow wood frame. Some of the colours in the catalogue illustration are somewhat more saturated than in reality, however the image is reasonably accurate overall.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

Catalogue Note

PROPERTY FORMERLY IN THE COLLECTION OF GEORGE AND BOSKI ANTHEIL

The following three works were acquired in the 1920s by Georg Antheil (1900-1959), the American-born avant-garde composer of German descent. On 30 May 1922, at the age of 21, Antheil set sail for Europe to make his name as a ‘new ultra-modern pianist composer’ and ‘futurist terrible’, and settled in Berlin. His modernist compositions from this period, such as Death of Machines or Mechanisms explored industrial and mechanical sounds.

In 1923 Antheil moved to Paris with his girlfriend Boski Markus. There, living above the well-known book shop Shakespeare & Company on Rue de l’Odéon, he quickly assimilated with the French avant-garde. Antheil’s best-known composition, Ballet Mécanique, was conceived to be accompanied by the film of the same name by Fernand Léger and Dudley Murphy with cinematography by Man Ray. In the late 1920s, Antheil moved back to Germany, where he worked as assistant musical director of the Stadttheater in Berlin. With the rise of the Nazi party, Antheil’s music fell out of favour in Germany, and in 1933 he returned to the USA to settle in New York City.


Max Dungert's early works were strongly influenced by Cubism and Expressionism, as exemplified by the present work, while from the late 1920s onwards his artistic output embraced Realism and the Neue Sachlichkeit. Few of Dungert's works survived the Second World War: in 1937 one of his paintings was impounded during the exhibition Entartete Kunst and in 1944 he was drafted into the army and his studio destroyed.

In 1919, the year the present work was painted, Dungert co-founded the Expressionist group Die Kugel ('The Sphere') in Magdeburg, to create a society of 'free art - free spirits - free mankind'. In 1921 Dungert moved to Berlin where he joined the similarly idealistic and radical November Gruppe. It was through the group that Dungert was introduced to Herwarth Walden, the owner of Gallerie Der Sturm in Berlin, the central forum for the avant-garde in the city at the time.