Like no other artist, Lesser Ury captured the unique atmosphere of metropolitan Berlin during the Golden Twenties. The streets, boulevards, and parks of the capital occupy a central place in his body of work. Ury was less interested in the topographical depiction of a place than in its changing appearance in the light—the atmosphere in which urban life and nature converge. His street scenes, in particular, capture the city's grandeur and rapid modernity of the era. His ability to capture the fleeting, transitory nature—so essential to modernism—is what makes his painting style reach perfection; with its lightness, dynamism, and speed, it reflects hectic city life. Ury’s conception of this essence of modern life is particularly striking in his use of pastels. In a shifting, fleeting manner, he depicts the street’s dynamic, receding perspective and autumnal mood, against which automobiles and passersby appear as silhouettes in rapid motion. Even static elements such as the towering trees and the statues along the sidewalks seem to dissolve in the clear and radiant light.
The pastel “Tiergartenallee with the Victory Column,” created in the mid-1920s, impressively brings this view of Berlin to life. The avenue stretches into the distance, drawing the eye toward the Victory Column, whose gilded Victoria appears as a luminous landmark above the Tiergarten. As a national monument, it serves as a historical reference point; yet Ury does not make it the dramatic focal point of the composition. Instead, it blends into the sequence of street, trees, and sky, becoming part of a fleeting, light-driven urban experience.
In the fleeting moment the scene presents itself, it is already beginning to fade, yet the artist's hand captures and preserves it for the viewer. [EH]