Lot 350 
350
Karl Hofer
Der Trinker, 1943.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 24,000 / $ 25,680 Sold:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,100 (incl. surcharge)
Der Trinker. 1943.
Oil on canvas.
Wohlert 1706. Monogrammed and dated (in ligature) in lower right. 89.5 x 81 cm (35.2 x 31.8 in).
PROVENANCE: From the artist' estate (no. 276).
Galerie Elfriede Wirnitzer, Baden-Baden (no. 193).
Baukunst Galerie, Cologne.
Art shop Gerd Köhrmann, Karl Hofer estate, Cologne (with label on stretcher).
Heirs of the widow Liesbeth Hofer.
EXHIBITION: Carl Hofer. Ausstellung von neun Werken, Ausstellungsräume des Westens, Berlin, as of 8 October, 1946, no. 14.
Carl Hofer, Exhbition at the Goslar Museum, Goslar, 4 - 18 October, 1953, no. 3, with illu.
Overview of Karl Hofer's oeuvre since 1945, Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, 12 December, 1954 - 9 January, 1955, list 2, no. 3.
Karl Hofer. Retrospective exhibition, oil paintings, watercolors, hand drawings, graphic works, Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, 20 January - 5 April, 1975, no. 31.
Karl Hofer 1878-1955, Staatliche Kunsthalle Berlin, 16 April - 14 June / Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 1 August - 17 September, 1978, cat. no. 148, p. 174 (with full-page illu. on p. 184).
Karl Hofer, exhibition on occassion of Karl Hofer's 100th birthday, Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, 14 September - 4 November, 1978, no. 39.
Karl Hofer. Malerei, Graphik, Zeichnung, Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg, Halle, 26 November, 1978 - 25 February, 1979, cat. no. 78, with illu. 75 on p. 124.
Die Figur im Werk von Karl Hofer. Ölbilder, Aquarelle, Handzeichnungen, Druckgraphik, Baukunst Galerie, Colone, 17 September - 13 November, 1982, no. 16.
Karl Hofer. Wiedergewonnene Verluste. Bilder aus den letzten Jahren, Galerie Andreas Baumgartl, Munich, 27 April - 23 June, 2001, p. 9, with color illu.
LITERATURE: Adolf Jannasch, Carl Hofer, Kunst der Gegenwart 1, Potsdam 1946, illu. no. 3.
Erich Link, Ein Maler von europäischem Rang. Carl-Hofer-Ausstellung in Halensee, in: Vorwärts, no. 154, 11. October, 1956, p. 5, with illu.
Revue, 2.1947, issue 20 (16 October), p. 6, with illu.
Der Sozialdemokrat, no. 237, 9 October 1948, p. 7, with illu.
Karl Hofer. Sechs Gemäldewiedergaben, Leipzig 1949, color plate 1.
Karl Hofer, Galerie Henning, Halle 1949, cat. no. 41, p. 23 (a reproduction from the Seemann Verlag was exhibited).
Seemann Katalog der Gemäldewiedergaben, Leipzig 1967, p. 394, with illu.
Günther Ott, Ein neues Weltbild der Menschlichkeit. Ausstellung von Museumsrang: Werke von Karl Hofer in der Galerie Baukunst, in: Kölner Stadtanzeiger, no. 217, 18 September, 1982, p. 24.
Oil on canvas.
Wohlert 1706. Monogrammed and dated (in ligature) in lower right. 89.5 x 81 cm (35.2 x 31.8 in).
PROVENANCE: From the artist' estate (no. 276).
Galerie Elfriede Wirnitzer, Baden-Baden (no. 193).
Baukunst Galerie, Cologne.
Art shop Gerd Köhrmann, Karl Hofer estate, Cologne (with label on stretcher).
Heirs of the widow Liesbeth Hofer.
EXHIBITION: Carl Hofer. Ausstellung von neun Werken, Ausstellungsräume des Westens, Berlin, as of 8 October, 1946, no. 14.
Carl Hofer, Exhbition at the Goslar Museum, Goslar, 4 - 18 October, 1953, no. 3, with illu.
Overview of Karl Hofer's oeuvre since 1945, Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen, 12 December, 1954 - 9 January, 1955, list 2, no. 3.
Karl Hofer. Retrospective exhibition, oil paintings, watercolors, hand drawings, graphic works, Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, 20 January - 5 April, 1975, no. 31.
Karl Hofer 1878-1955, Staatliche Kunsthalle Berlin, 16 April - 14 June / Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 1 August - 17 September, 1978, cat. no. 148, p. 174 (with full-page illu. on p. 184).
Karl Hofer, exhibition on occassion of Karl Hofer's 100th birthday, Baukunst Galerie, Cologne, 14 September - 4 November, 1978, no. 39.
Karl Hofer. Malerei, Graphik, Zeichnung, Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg, Halle, 26 November, 1978 - 25 February, 1979, cat. no. 78, with illu. 75 on p. 124.
Die Figur im Werk von Karl Hofer. Ölbilder, Aquarelle, Handzeichnungen, Druckgraphik, Baukunst Galerie, Colone, 17 September - 13 November, 1982, no. 16.
Karl Hofer. Wiedergewonnene Verluste. Bilder aus den letzten Jahren, Galerie Andreas Baumgartl, Munich, 27 April - 23 June, 2001, p. 9, with color illu.
LITERATURE: Adolf Jannasch, Carl Hofer, Kunst der Gegenwart 1, Potsdam 1946, illu. no. 3.
Erich Link, Ein Maler von europäischem Rang. Carl-Hofer-Ausstellung in Halensee, in: Vorwärts, no. 154, 11. October, 1956, p. 5, with illu.
Revue, 2.1947, issue 20 (16 October), p. 6, with illu.
Der Sozialdemokrat, no. 237, 9 October 1948, p. 7, with illu.
Karl Hofer. Sechs Gemäldewiedergaben, Leipzig 1949, color plate 1.
Karl Hofer, Galerie Henning, Halle 1949, cat. no. 41, p. 23 (a reproduction from the Seemann Verlag was exhibited).
Seemann Katalog der Gemäldewiedergaben, Leipzig 1967, p. 394, with illu.
Günther Ott, Ein neues Weltbild der Menschlichkeit. Ausstellung von Museumsrang: Werke von Karl Hofer in der Galerie Baukunst, in: Kölner Stadtanzeiger, no. 217, 18 September, 1982, p. 24.
In 1943 Karl Hofer created a remarkably large number of paintings amidst chaos and destruction. Some of them were made referring to works that had been lost during the war. Besides all scepticism towards life the work "Der Trinker" shows, a joy-filled component can also be observed. Carousers are a very old subject, which artists have examined for centuries. Hofer's drinker seems to be ensouled by an optimism that most works from this period lack. In this respect this painting is an exception. The figure's normally rather stiff posture gives way to a wide swinging gesture. The impression comes up as if so much optimism is very untypical of Karl Hofer's painting. Adolf Jannasch describes the simplified forms as follows: "Hofer unites forms, motions and features. That's the expressive element. Neither naturalistic drawing nor destruction, instead a concentration on closed forms. That is the reason for the wide and dark bags under his eyes, the huge hooknose, the shouting man's gigantic mouth, the mask-like profiles, the spooky figures' stiff contortion, a rough world. By means of such exaggeration the artist captures his figures" (quote after: Adolf Jannasch, Carl Hofer, Kunst der Gegenwart 1, Potsdam 1946, p. 13).
350
Karl Hofer
Der Trinker, 1943.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 24,000 / $ 25,680 Sold:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,100 (incl. surcharge)