Sale: 538 / 19th Century Art, June 10. 2023 in Munich Lot 652

 

652
Robert H. Sterl
Prozession in Russland, 1920.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 22,860 / $ 24,688

(incl. surcharge)
Prozession in Russland. 1920.
Oil on canvas.
Popova Nachtrag 718a. Monogrammed in lower right. With a stamp of the art supplies store Emil Geller, Dresden, on the reverse. 60 x 68 cm (23.6 x 26.7 in).

PROVENANCE: Private collection Saxony.
Private collection Southern Germany (acquired from the above).

Along with Max Lieberman, Max Slevogt and Lovis Corinth, Robert H. Sterl was one of the representatives of German Impressionism, which he helped to gain acceptance in particular as lecturer and later as professor at the Dresden Art Academy 1904. His oeuvre is characterized by fleeting views that arise out of the moment and are determined by movement in motif and brushwork. The pictures of Russia form a separate group of works in which Sterl shows his fascination for the country, its people and their folkloric and religious customs. From 1908 he traveled the large country several times on the Volga to Astrakhan on the Caspian Sea, most recently in 1914 shortly before the start of the First World War. In particular, the motif of the processions, in which the rich colors of the priest's robes and folk costumes present a spectacle, repeatedly inspired him to variations of this theme. What is more important than the ethnographic documentation of the icons that were carried along is the coloring, which is applied in a moving, free style. Sterl depicts the procession in a dynamic, diagonally curved movement, while the landscape, rendered with a broad, energetic brushwork, vibrates in shades of green; while he transforms the figures of the attendants, dressed in colorful robes, into almost disembodied color apparitions. The interest in the pure intensity of the crimson and golden-brown ocher tones becomes clear, which make for a color spectacle in front of the changeable green. The exhibition "Russlandbilder – Robert Sterl und Ernst Barlach"at the Galerie Neue Meister, Albertinum, Dresden in 2017 was the first show ever that was dedicated to Sterl's impressive pictures of Russia. [KT]



652
Robert H. Sterl
Prozession in Russland, 1920.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 10,000 / $ 10,800
Sold:
€ 22,860 / $ 24,688

(incl. surcharge)