Sale: 532 / 19th Century Art, Dec. 10. 2022 in Munich Lot 388

 

388
Max Clarenbach
Winterlandschaft mit Kahnfischer, Um 1920.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 11,250 / $ 12,150

(incl. surcharge)
Winterlandschaft mit Kahnfischer. Um 1920.
Oil on canvas.
Signed in lower left. 90 x 105 cm (35.4 x 41.3 in).

We are grateful to Dr. Dietrich Clarenbach, Gauting, for his kind expert advice.

PROVENANCE: German private collection.

The snowy, atmospheric landscapes of his Lower Rhine homeland, especially the area around Wittlaer with the small Rhine tributary of the Erft, are among Max Clarenbach's favorite motifs. On a trip to Paris in 1905, Clarenbach had a chance to see the works of Claude Monet, presumably also his winter landscapes - the collection of his painter friend Gustav Wendling also comprised Japanese ukiyo-e, which certainly were also quite inspiring for him owing to their formal reduction and emphasis on flatness. In 1908, Clarenbach had a stately home built by Josef Maria Olbrich outside the old town center of Wittlaer (today part of Düsseldorf) above the Rhine. From then on he had a direct view of the beloved Rhine wetlands in fornt of his eyes every day. In 1909 he tried to bring German landscape painting closer to French Impressionism by founding the artist group "Sonderbund" together with the painters Julius Bretz, August Deusser, Walter Ophey, Wilhelm Schmurr and the brothers Alfred and Otto Sohn-Rethel. In his preferred winter motifs, Clarenbach succeeded in capturing the clarity and calm of this time of the year in a dim and diffused light. The reflection of the still water underlines the mysterious atmosphere of the landscape, which is reproduced in a harmonious, clear color mood in delicate blue and warm gray tones, contrasted by the bright white of the snow-covered fields. [KT]



388
Max Clarenbach
Winterlandschaft mit Kahnfischer, Um 1920.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 11,250 / $ 12,150

(incl. surcharge)