- 35
Max Liebermann
Estimate
500,000 - 700,000 GBP
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Description
- Max Liebermann
- Die Grosse Seestrasse in Wannsee mit Spaziergängern (Figures on the Grosse Seestrasse in Wannsee)
- signed M Liebermann (lower left)
- oil on canvas
- 60.4 by 72.5cm.
- 23 3/4 by 28 1/2 in.
Provenance
(Presumably) Bruno Cassirer, Berlin (acquired circa 1933)
Private Collection, Switzerland
Galerie Benador, Bern
Metzger, Bern (acquired by 1934)
Private Collection, Rheinland
Private Collection, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Sale: Lempertz, Cologne, 5th December 2009, lot 958
Galerie Ludorff, Berlin
Acquired from the above by the present owner in 2014
Exhibited
Zurich, Galerie Aktuaryus, Max Liebermann, 1933, no. 13 (titled Tiergartenalee and as dating from 1913)
Literature
Monatsschrift der Galerie Aktuaryus, Galerie und Sammlung 9/10, Zurich, 1933, illustrated p. 158
Matthias Eberle, Max Liebermann. Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und Ölstudien, Munich, 1996, vol. II, no. 1920/15, illustrated in colour p. 1011
Catalogue Note
Die Grosse Seestrasse in Wannsee mit Spaziergängern, painted circa 1920, depicts a wide tree-lined avenue that led towards Liebermann’s house in Wannsee. Having attained considerable recognition and financial success by the early 1900s, Liebermann commissioned a palatial villa in the fashionable area on the shores of the lake in 1909, sparing no expense on it. The villa was modelled on the country houses he saw in Hamburg, renowned for their comfort and splendour. When it was completed, Liebermann even spoke about it as his ‘Klein-Versailles’. The artist took great pride and paid special attention to the design and layout of his garden. The canvases Liebermann produced at Wannsee share a particular quality; one that exudes a reassuring sense of freedom, both in subject and technique, and convey the contentment Liebermann derived from spending time at his suburban villa.
The present work belongs to Liebermann’s celebrated works depicting the people of Berlin at leisure. In contrast to his early paintings of the 1870s and 1880s, when motives were predominantly taken from rural life, Liebermann’s more mature works were characterised by themes drawn from urban leisure. The Grosse Seestrasse provided the setting for a number of Liebermann’s mature Impressionist paintings, its broad vista and gentle bustle perfectly suiting his style and subject-matter. He painted many views of the street capturing the light effects of different seasons or times of day, the style that made him known as one of the leading German Impressionists. Liebermann’s scenes of Wannsee, including the present work, have become the quintessence of the relationship between nature and urban life.
The present work belongs to Liebermann’s celebrated works depicting the people of Berlin at leisure. In contrast to his early paintings of the 1870s and 1880s, when motives were predominantly taken from rural life, Liebermann’s more mature works were characterised by themes drawn from urban leisure. The Grosse Seestrasse provided the setting for a number of Liebermann’s mature Impressionist paintings, its broad vista and gentle bustle perfectly suiting his style and subject-matter. He painted many views of the street capturing the light effects of different seasons or times of day, the style that made him known as one of the leading German Impressionists. Liebermann’s scenes of Wannsee, including the present work, have become the quintessence of the relationship between nature and urban life.