Gabriele Münter

Franz Resch, Germany 
Kerstan Collection, Murg 
Private Collection, Germany 
Sale: Villa Grisebach Auktionen, Berlin, June 1, 2012, lot, 337
Acquired at the above sale by the present owner 

Bad Sackingen, Kunstverein Upper Rhine in Villa Berberich, Gabriele Münter. Ölbilder, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, 1986, no. 54 

Executed on card laid down on board, potentially with a layer of canvas between the card and board. There are minor frame abrasions and scatted slight discoloration in places around the extreme perimeter of the work. There is evidence of several repaired tears to the card visible under close inspection predominantly found near the edges of the work. Under UV light some original pigments fluoresce and thin strokes of inpainting are visible in some of the repaired tears, otherwise fine. The work is in generally good condition.
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.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Best-known for her sweeping landscapes of Murnau, a small town nestled along the Bavarian Alps, Münter spent a period in the 1940s painting a small series of still lifes. In these compositions she explored a bold range of colors and forms, meticulously layering contrasting colors and delineating forms with thick black contours in a dramatic effort to create a unique sense of balance. Sonnenblumen vor Rot is an exemplary representation of Münter’s oeuvre of this period and serves as a celebration of vivid palette and bold form, calling to mind the still lifes of such Post-Impressionist masters as Vincent van Gogh, whose paintings of sunflowers are among the most celebrated images of early modern art history (see fig. 1). Münter’s varied, visceral brushwork sweeps across the canvas even as she carefully delineates form with black outlines. When describing Münter’s style, Arthur Jerome Eddy once wrote, “Gabriele Münter has a vision of things quite her own, a sense of humor and of life that penetrates beneath the surface, and that manifests itself in a technique that is one might say, almost nonchalant” (Arthur Eddy, Cubists and Post-Impressionism, Chicago, 1914, p. 114). Even if these words were intended to describe the artist's earliest avant-garde paintings, there remains a restrained confidence and indelible sense of incisiveness that permeates the artist's strongest 1940s output, the present painting included.