Sale: 424 / Modern Art, June 11./13. 2015 in Munich Lot 236

 

236
Christian Rohlfs
Sängerin I, Um 1921.
Tempera
Estimate:
€ 70,000 / $ 75,600
Sold:
€ 81,250 / $ 87,750

(incl. surcharge)
Sängerin I. Um 1921.
Tempera on canvas.
Vogt 668 (thee with title "Vier Menschen"). Monogrammed lower right. Rear of stretcher with inscription "Sängerin I Christian Rohlfs Hagen i./W". 80 x 60 cm (31.4 x 23.6 in). [KD].

Distinguished figure composition from the artist's best period of creation.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Abels, Cologne.
Private ownership.
Villa Grisebach, auction 43, Ausgewählte Werke, 26 May, 1995, lot 49 (with illu.).
Private collection Berlin (since 1995).

The strictly organized composition of this work with the three main protagonists in parallel arrangement calls reminiscence of Renaissance illustration of saints. But Christian Rohlfs surely had something else in mind. To him it was all about the color effect within a composition, to which, for its somewhat schematic order of the color, he attributes a special meaning. The constriction to the three primary colors red, blue and white corresponds to the arrangement of the three persons that dominate the composition. Perhaps a slightly narrative path is suggested by the accentuated position of the singer in the red dress in left, however, as it is generally the case with Rohlfs, it is not pursued any further. It is the interplay of color fields and forms that makes for the special charm of this composition.The intentionally omitted individuality of the protagonists leaves room for own interpretation.



236
Christian Rohlfs
Sängerin I, Um 1921.
Tempera
Estimate:
€ 70,000 / $ 75,600
Sold:
€ 81,250 / $ 87,750

(incl. surcharge)