Sale: 392 / Modern Art, June 09. 2012 in Munich Lot 5

 
Gabriele Münter - Staffelsee mit rotem Haus


5
Gabriele Münter
Staffelsee mit rotem Haus, 1908.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 90,000 / $ 97,200
Sold:
€ 164,700 / $ 177,876

(incl. surcharge)
Staffelsee mit rotem Haus. Um 1908.
Oil on canvas laid on cardboard and rebacked with cardboard.
With estate stamp "Gabriele Münter Nachlaß" on verso as well as with an old adhesive label inscribed "L 378". 22 x 17 cm (8,6 x 6,6 in). Size incl. backing cardboard: 22,3 x 17,5 cm (8,8 x 6,9 in).
Paintings from Gabriele Münter's time in Murnau are highly sought-after on the art market.

PROVENANCE: Gabriele Münter- and Johannes Eichner-Foundation.
Private collection.

Gabriele Münter received her first art lessons at the 'Damen-Kunstschule' (Ladies Art School) in Düsseldorf and then attended the Society of Woman Artists as M. Dasio's and A. Jank's pupil. Then she went to Munich where she visited the private art school 'Phalanx' which was run by Wassily Kandinsky. In 1904 Münter and Kandinsky began travelling together: to Holland, Italy, France - where they met Rousseau and Matisse - and elsewhere. Stylistically she now distanced herself from Impressionism and her works began showing Fauve and Expressionist influences. In 1908 she and Kandinsky began leading a calmer life in their apartment in Munich. They often met with Klee, Marc, Macke, Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin. The country house Münter bought in Murnau provided an ideal working environment.

The summer of 1908, the year this small painting was presumably made, Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky spent in Murnau on Staffelsee together with Alexej von Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin. This stay meant a change in their art: Turning from Late-Impressionism to a new perception. Münter expresses it as follows: "After a short and painful time I made a great leap – from painting nature – more or less impressionistic – to feeling content – to abstraction to giving an extract" (transl. Of quote after Gabriele Münter 1877-1962. Retrospective, ex. cat. Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich 1992, unpag. p. 108). This small painting stands examplarily for the new period of perception he mentioned, but it also shows the influence of her colleague’s works. Münter largely abandoned the broken colors later, in order to turn to a painting more geared at primary colors.

In 1909 the artist began painting glass, a medium which would later also be adopted by Kandinsky, Marc, Macke and Campendonk. Münter was a member of the 'Neue Künstlervereinigung München' for two years and in 1911 she joined the 'Blaue Reiter', the artist group founded by Kandinsky and Marc. She was interested in Kandinsky's development towards abstract art, but her own works continued to be figurative. Her landscapes, figurative scenes and portraits show a reduction to the essential with an inclination towards humorous characterisation. When war broke out, Münter and Kandinsky at first moved to Switzerland. Münter, however, decided a year later to go to Stockholm, where she separated from Kandinsky. In late autumn 1917 she moved to Copenhagen. She travelled a lot during the 1920s and spent some time in Munich, Murnau, Cologne and Berlin. After 1931 she spent most of her time in Murnau and Munich. In 1956 she received the Culture Prize of the City of Munich. The year 1960 saw the first exhibition of Münter's work in the US, followed in 1961 by a large show in the Mannheim Kunsthalle. The artist died in her house at Murnau on 19 May 1962. [KD].




5
Gabriele Münter
Staffelsee mit rotem Haus, 1908.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 90,000 / $ 97,200
Sold:
€ 164,700 / $ 177,876

(incl. surcharge)