Sale: 428 / Modern Art, Dec. 03./05. 2015 in Munich Lot 289

 

289
Karl Hofer
Stehender Mädchenakt mit Badekappe, 1953.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 40,000 / $ 43,200
Sold:
€ 40,000 / $ 43,200

(incl. surcharge)
Stehender Mädchenakt mit Badekappe. 1953.
Oil on canvas.
Wohlert 2583. Monogrammed (in ligature) and dated lower right. 91 x 63.5 cm (35.8 x 25 in).

PROVENANCE: From artist's estate (no. 543).
Galerie Elfriede Wirnitzer, Baden-Baden (no. 166).
Kunsthandel Gerd Köhrmann, estate Karl Hofer, Cologne (with gallery label on stretcher).
Private collection Hesse.

Even though Karl Bernhard Wohlert, author of the catalog raisonné, denies it, Karl Hofer's later paintings show a slight notion of features from German Late-Expressionism. Both as far as formal arrangement, solely focussed onto the depicted person, as well as the color field composition is concerned, references to earlier works can be observed. The difficult situation Karl Hofer was in as advocate of figuration after WW II, can also be observed in his paintings. In the circle of those who had discovered abstraction he must have felt like a relict from long gone days. However, Karl Hofer had already made the experience that found realization in his later works. The faithfulness to this path can not be valued enough from today's perspective.



289
Karl Hofer
Stehender Mädchenakt mit Badekappe, 1953.
Oil on canvas
Estimate:
€ 40,000 / $ 43,200
Sold:
€ 40,000 / $ 43,200

(incl. surcharge)