Sale: 605 / Day Sale, June 13. 2026 in Munich → Lot 126000254
Raumbeispiel
126000254
Lesser Ury
Die Geschwister, Interieur mit Kindern, 1883.
Oil on canvas laid on panel
Estimate:
€ 80,000 - 100,000
$ 93,600 - 117,000
Information on buyer's premium, taxation and resale right compensation will be available four weeks before the auction.
126000254
Lesser Ury
Die Geschwister, Interieur mit Kindern, 1883.
Oil on canvas laid on panel
Estimate:
€ 80,000 - 100,000
$ 93,600 - 117,000
Information on buyer's premium, taxation and resale right compensation will be available four weeks before the auction.
Lesser Ury
1861 - 1931
Die Geschwister, Interieur mit Kindern. 1883.
Oil on canvas laid on panel.
Signed in the lower left. 100 x 80 cm (39.3 x 31.4 in).
[MH].
• Lesser Ury is considered one of the key figures in the development of Impressionism in Germany.
• While Ury became famous for his Berlin street scenes and café interiors, portraits of children from his early creative period are extremely rare.
• A rare document of bourgeois childhood in the 19th century—moving beyond idealized genre paintings, Ury presents authentic portraiture and captures a private, unposed moment.
• Exhibited at the annual Glaspalast exhibition in Munich as early as 1891.
PROVENANCE: Julius Elias, Berlin.
Curt Goldschmidt, Berlin (1921–1935).
Bavarian State Painting Collection, Munich (since 1972).
Private collection, Berlin (1972, Neumeister, Munich).
EXHIBITION: Münchner Jahresausstellung von Kunstwerken aller Nationen, Königlichen Glaspalast, Munich, 1891, cat. no. 1590.
Lesser Ury, Salon Keller & Reiner, reviewed by Maximiliane Rapsilber, in: Ost und West. Illustrierte Monatsschrift für illustriertes Judentum, ed. by Leo Winz, 1905, p. 14 (illustrated).
LITERATURE: Rudolf Lepke’s Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Berlin, 1178th Auction, April 25, 1899, lot 57.
Adolph Donath, Lesser Ury, Berlin 1921, p. 67 (illustrated, fig. 32).
Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, 409th Auction, Oct. 23–24, 1940, lot 159.
Kunstpreis-Verzeichnis, Vol. 2, Weltkunst-Verlag: Auction Results from July 1, 1940–June 30, 1940, p. 96, no. 992.
Galerie Neumeister, Munich, May 19, 1969, no. 353 (illustrated)
Bavarian State Painting Collection (ed.), Neue Pinakothek. Erläuterungen zu den ausgestellten Werken, Munich 1981, p. 350 (illustrated)
Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, Christoph Heilmann (eds.), Wegweiser durch die Sammlung der Neuen Pinakothek und die Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst, Munich 1985, inv. no. 14275.
Hans F. Schweers, Genrebilder in Deutschen Museen. Verzeichnis der Künstler und Werke, Munich 1986, pp. 336, 339 (illustrated).
Joachim Seyppel: Lesser Ury. Der Maler der alten City. Leben, Kunst, Wirkung, Berlin 1987, no. 31.
Hermann A. Schlögl, Hannah Katzenstein (eds.), Der Teufel hole die Kunst. Briefe von Lesser Ury an einen Freund, Berlin 2000, p. 66 (illustrated).
Archival materials:
Central Archive Berlin, accession number I/NG 0729. 1935: Files regarding the Lesser Ury Memorial Exhibition in Berlin, list of Lesser Ury’s works with owners.
Brandenburg State Archives, reference number REP 36A, 11822, liquidation of the estate of Joseph Goldschmidt 1935, including auction order for the estate of Curt Goldschmidt to Edgar Lach, item 207: oil painting “Lesser Ury Kinderszene”, estimate price 800 RM.
1861 - 1931
Die Geschwister, Interieur mit Kindern. 1883.
Oil on canvas laid on panel.
Signed in the lower left. 100 x 80 cm (39.3 x 31.4 in).
[MH].
• Lesser Ury is considered one of the key figures in the development of Impressionism in Germany.
• While Ury became famous for his Berlin street scenes and café interiors, portraits of children from his early creative period are extremely rare.
• A rare document of bourgeois childhood in the 19th century—moving beyond idealized genre paintings, Ury presents authentic portraiture and captures a private, unposed moment.
• Exhibited at the annual Glaspalast exhibition in Munich as early as 1891.
PROVENANCE: Julius Elias, Berlin.
Curt Goldschmidt, Berlin (1921–1935).
Bavarian State Painting Collection, Munich (since 1972).
Private collection, Berlin (1972, Neumeister, Munich).
EXHIBITION: Münchner Jahresausstellung von Kunstwerken aller Nationen, Königlichen Glaspalast, Munich, 1891, cat. no. 1590.
Lesser Ury, Salon Keller & Reiner, reviewed by Maximiliane Rapsilber, in: Ost und West. Illustrierte Monatsschrift für illustriertes Judentum, ed. by Leo Winz, 1905, p. 14 (illustrated).
LITERATURE: Rudolf Lepke’s Kunst-Auctions-Haus, Berlin, 1178th Auction, April 25, 1899, lot 57.
Adolph Donath, Lesser Ury, Berlin 1921, p. 67 (illustrated, fig. 32).
Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, 409th Auction, Oct. 23–24, 1940, lot 159.
Kunstpreis-Verzeichnis, Vol. 2, Weltkunst-Verlag: Auction Results from July 1, 1940–June 30, 1940, p. 96, no. 992.
Galerie Neumeister, Munich, May 19, 1969, no. 353 (illustrated)
Bavarian State Painting Collection (ed.), Neue Pinakothek. Erläuterungen zu den ausgestellten Werken, Munich 1981, p. 350 (illustrated)
Carla Schulz-Hoffmann, Christoph Heilmann (eds.), Wegweiser durch die Sammlung der Neuen Pinakothek und die Staatsgalerie moderner Kunst, Munich 1985, inv. no. 14275.
Hans F. Schweers, Genrebilder in Deutschen Museen. Verzeichnis der Künstler und Werke, Munich 1986, pp. 336, 339 (illustrated).
Joachim Seyppel: Lesser Ury. Der Maler der alten City. Leben, Kunst, Wirkung, Berlin 1987, no. 31.
Hermann A. Schlögl, Hannah Katzenstein (eds.), Der Teufel hole die Kunst. Briefe von Lesser Ury an einen Freund, Berlin 2000, p. 66 (illustrated).
Archival materials:
Central Archive Berlin, accession number I/NG 0729. 1935: Files regarding the Lesser Ury Memorial Exhibition in Berlin, list of Lesser Ury’s works with owners.
Brandenburg State Archives, reference number REP 36A, 11822, liquidation of the estate of Joseph Goldschmidt 1935, including auction order for the estate of Curt Goldschmidt to Edgar Lach, item 207: oil painting “Lesser Ury Kinderszene”, estimate price 800 RM.
The painting “Die Geschwister, Interieur mit Kindern” (The Siblings, Interior with Children, 1883) by Lesser Ury exemplifies the intimate imagery that occupies a distinct position within German Impressionism. While artists such as Liebermann or Slevogt put greater emphasis on social scenes, Ury developed an introspective style that is less narrative and more atmospheric in nature. The focus is on light, ambience and a subtle psychological presence.
Characteristic of Ury’s painting is his keen sense of natural light. In this work, it shines into the room through the window and bathes the scene in nuanced shades. The composition shows three children in a simple interior, the effect of which is largely determined by the incoming daylight, which does not sharply define the figures but dissolves their contours into soft color transitions. In this work, Ury employed subtle gradations of earthy tones to create tranquil aesthetics. As a result, the interior becomes a place of contemplation. The children’s quiet absorption is striking. Their activities—reading, looking out the window, and seemingly casual play with flowers—do not unfold a narrative dynamic but rather reinforce the impression of inner absorption. Childhood appears not as an idyllic motif but as a state of quiet observation.
This work occupies a special position within Ury’s oeuvre. The artist is best known for his atmospheric urban scenes—rain-soaked streets, nighttime boulevards, and light-filled cafés—that capture the pulsating life of the modern metropolis. Intimate interiors with such meticulously staged lighting, by contrast, represent a comparatively rare group of works. It is precisely this combination of domestic tranquility and subtle lighting that lends the painting a unique significance. [MH]
Characteristic of Ury’s painting is his keen sense of natural light. In this work, it shines into the room through the window and bathes the scene in nuanced shades. The composition shows three children in a simple interior, the effect of which is largely determined by the incoming daylight, which does not sharply define the figures but dissolves their contours into soft color transitions. In this work, Ury employed subtle gradations of earthy tones to create tranquil aesthetics. As a result, the interior becomes a place of contemplation. The children’s quiet absorption is striking. Their activities—reading, looking out the window, and seemingly casual play with flowers—do not unfold a narrative dynamic but rather reinforce the impression of inner absorption. Childhood appears not as an idyllic motif but as a state of quiet observation.
This work occupies a special position within Ury’s oeuvre. The artist is best known for his atmospheric urban scenes—rain-soaked streets, nighttime boulevards, and light-filled cafés—that capture the pulsating life of the modern metropolis. Intimate interiors with such meticulously staged lighting, by contrast, represent a comparatively rare group of works. It is precisely this combination of domestic tranquility and subtle lighting that lends the painting a unique significance. [MH]
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Hessen
Rhineland-Palatinate
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Fax: +49 62 21 58 80-595
infoheidelberg@kettererkunst.de
We will inform you in time.