Lot 22
  • 22

Cuno Amiet

Estimate
150,000 - 200,000 CHF
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Description

  • Cuno Amiet
  • Dekoration Blumenfrauen I, 1914
  • signed with the artist's initials and dated
    This painting comes with the artist's original frame. 
  • oil on canvas
  • 140 x 53 cm
The present work, an expressive depiction of a slender female figure dressed in a long robe, is part of a four piece cycle, which was ordered by Willy Russ-Young in summer of 1914 to embellish the collector’s dining room in his estate in Serrières in Neuchâtel. Flowers were requested to be the central motif of the composition.
Russ-Young was a passionate collector of Ferdinand Hodler. Therefore, the present work is reminiscent of Hodler’s monumental moving figures in front of abstract landscapes.

The figure is holding a bouquet of flowers in her left hand, whilst looking intently at a single flower held in her right hand. The painting is considered a synthesis of Amiet’s iconographic preferences, as seen in earlier works such as Richesse du Soir (1899), Die Wahrheit (1913), his Apfelernte series (1913/1914) and depictions of his wife Anna Amiet in her garden (1911-1913). 

Das ausdrucksstarke Gemälde mit der feingliedrigen Frauengestalt in langem Gewand ist Teil eines vierteiligen dekorativen Bilderzyklus, welcher der Neuenburger Sammler Willy Russ-Young im Sommer 1914, als Wanddekoration für das Esszimmer seines Anwesens in Serrières, in Auftrag gab. Blumen sollten das zentrale Motiv der Komposition einnehmen. Ansonsten liess er dem Maler bei der Gestaltung freie Hand.
Amiet wusste, dass der Auftraggeber ein leidenschaftlicher Sammler von Werken Ferdinand Hodlers war. Diese grossformatige Gewandfigur ist eine Reminiszenz an Hodlers monumentale Bewegungsfiguren vor abstrahiertem landschaftlichem Hintergrund. Zudem rezipieren die vier Tafeln das parallelistische Kompositionsprinzip Hodlers in faszinierender Weise. Unsere Blumenfrau hält in ihrer linken Hand einen gebundenen Strauss und mit Ihrer Rechten eine Blüte, die sie intensiv betrachtet. Dieses Werk ist eine Synthese von Amiets ikonografischer Vorliebe und der von ihm eingesetzten formalen Mittel, die er in seinen früheren Werken wie bei Richesse du Soir (1899), Die Wahrheit (1913) und bei seinen Apfelernte-Bildern (1913/14) sowie bei den Darstellungen der arbeitenden Anna Amiet im Garten (1911-1913) eingesetzt hat.

Provenance

Willy Russ-Young, Neuchâtel (1914-1915)
Cuno Amiet, Oschwand (1915)
Private collection, Switzerland (acquired from the artist, 1979)
Private collection, Switzerland (by descent to the present owner)

 

Exhibited

Zurich, Kunstsalon Wolfsberg, Jawlensky, Berger, Segal, Egger, Amiet, 1916
Zurich, Kunsthaus, 1917, no. 48
Berne, Kunsthalle, Ausstellung Cuno Amiet, 1919, no. 70
Neuchâtel, Galerie d’art, Exposition de Cuno Amiet, 1919, no. 30 (Les fleurs (décoration))
Basel, Hallen der Schweizer Mustermesse, Katalog der XIV. Schweizerischen Kunstausstellung in Basel, 1919, no. 22
Basel, Kunsthalle, Cuno Amiet, 1921

 

Literature

E.S. „I“, in: Züricher Post, 26.5.1917
J.H. „Kunstchronik. Aus dem Zürcher Kunsthaus I“, in: Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 14.5.1917
Georg Schmidt, „Die Amiet-Ausstellung in der Kunsthalle, II“, in: National-Zeitung, 10.4.1921, (Blumenfrauen)
Franz Müller/Viola Radlach unter Mitarbeit von Larissa Ullmann, Cuno Amiet. Die Gemälde 1883-1919, Part 2, Zurich 2014, p. 446, no. 1914.41, ill. (in colour)

Condition

Not relined. Canvas slightly buckling. Minor paint losses and accretion in the lower left quadrant. Faint craquelure mostly visible on the figure's right leg and on the green colour behind her left leg. Minor accretions along the middle right edge. Minor accretions in the green colour above her head. Small paint flaking along the upper left edge. Under UV light no retouching visible. Very 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. 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."