Sale: 436 / Modern Art I, Dec. 10. 2016 in Munich Lot 208

 

208
Gabriele Münter
Murnau, Hauptstrasse am Sonntag im Mai, 1924.
Oil on cardboard
Estimate:
€ 140,000 / $ 151,200
Sold:
€ 175,000 / $ 189,000

(incl. surcharge)
Murnau, Hauptstrasse am Sonntag im Mai. 1924.
Oil on cardboard.
Lower left signed, dated and inscribed "Sonntag" (scratched). Verso signed, dated and iscribed: " Murnau Hauptstrasse am Sonntag im Mai" and with other hand-writen inscriptions, among them "L 52". Verso with estate stamp and a label with stamped number "1221". 50.4 x 34.5 cm (19.8 x 13.5 in).

PROVENANCE: Artist's estate.
Hutton-Hutschnecker Gallery, New York.
Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich 36th auction, 27 November 1979, cat. no. 1285 with color illu.
Collection Karl Rudolf Funke (verso with collector's stamp).
Galerie Thomas, Munich (with gallery label on frame).
Private collection (acquired from aforementioned in the 1980s).

EXHIBITION: Gabriele Münter, Kölner Museum, Cologne 1925, no. 85.
Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung, Berlin 1928, no.155.
Gabriele Münter, 50 Gemälde in 25 Jahren 1908 - 1933, traveling exhibition Paula Modersohn Haus, Bremen/ Ruhmeshalle, Barmen/ Städtische Galerie, Bochum/ Prinzessinnenschlösschen, Jena/ Schloss, Eisenach/ Museum, Altenburg/ Galerie Valentien, Stuttgart cat. no. 35 (with fragments of an exhibition label on rear).

After the separation from Kandinsky and the years in Scandinavia Gabriele Münter eventually regained strength in Murnau. She takes up motifs again that she had found in the surrounding landscapes during the years before WW I. The expressive coloring yields to a more balanced choice of colors. The overall composition seemscalmer. The bold perspective with the slightly winding road and the dark, still winterly trees in the foreground add a special dynamic effect to the composition. The motif of a flagged street, which Münter actually found in reality, had been depicted before, for instance by Manet in "La rue Mosnier aux drapeaux" from 1878 or in Adolph von Menzel's "Abreise König Wilhelms zur Armee" from 1871. With the downwards winding road Münter added another notion to the subject. In comparison with earlier works, the contour lines are a lot milder n this one, however, this street scene emanates an almost merry dynamic of the holiday Whitsunday in May. [KD]



208
Gabriele Münter
Murnau, Hauptstrasse am Sonntag im Mai, 1924.
Oil on cardboard
Estimate:
€ 140,000 / $ 151,200
Sold:
€ 175,000 / $ 189,000

(incl. surcharge)