Blumen auf Weiß (Zyklamen und Hyazinthe). 1934.
Oil on cardboard.
Signed and dated lower right. Verso with estate stamp and a sticker with partly stamped and partly hand-written number "B 149" as well as another label with stamped number "556". Also inscribed on verso "19b/34" and "Bumen auf Weiß, Cyclamen u. Hyacynthe" by a hand other than that of the artist. 46,1 x 38,3 cm (18,1 x 15 in).

Accompanied by a written confirmation from the Gabriele Münter- and Johannes Eichner-foundation, Munich, from 30 January, 2013. The work will be included into the catalog raisonné of as Gabriele Münter's paintings published by the Gabriele Münter and Johannes Eichner foundation.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Gunzenhauser, Munich (with typographically inscribed label on frame).
Private collection Northenr Germany.

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. 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.

As early as in the 1930s Gabriele Münter attained a formally moderate view onto things. This may have been due to her age-appropriate turn to more balance – it becomes obvious in both her work’s colors as well as formal arrangement. Münter concentrated on her direct vicinity more than ever before. Flower still lifes and landscapes were among her favorite subjects. Münter rarely strove for a monumentalization, as it is the case in this work. The flowers are seen in a large and reduced style. The work is particularly captivating for its accentuated contrast of colors and the blossom’s manifold play of colors.

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. [EH].