Pappeln. 1959.
Watercolor.
Signed in lower right, with the work number "5916" in lower left. On wove paper. 50 x 70 cm (19.6 x 27.5 in), the full sheet.

• The motif corresponds to the painting “Pappeln am Schwarzbach”, Brückemuseum Berlin.
• Rich in color and full of radiance.
• Karl Schmidt-Rottluff found new creative strength in his landscapes.

The work is documented in the archive of the Karl and Emy Schmidt-Rottluff Foundation, Berlin.

PROVENANCE: Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Würzburg (with the collector's stamp, Lugt 6032.

EXHIBITION: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff zum 100. Geburtstag, Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, June 3 - August 12, 1984, cat. no. 132.
Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 1995-2001).
Kunstmuseum Moritzburg, Halle an der Saale (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2001-2017).
Buchheim Museum, Bernried (permanent loan from the Hermann Gerlinger Collection, 2017-2022)
Schmidt-Rottluff. Form, Farbe, Ausdruck, Buchheim Museum der Phantasie, Bernried am Starnberger See, September 29, 2018 - February 24, 2019, p. 312 (illu.).

LITERATURE: Heinz Spielmann (ed.), Die Maler der Brücke. Sammlung Hermann Gerlinger, Stuttgart 1995, p. 428, SHG no. 774 (illu.).
Hermann Gerlinger, Katja Schneider (eds.), Die Maler der Brücke. Inventory catalog Hermann Gerlinger Collection, Halle (Saale) 2005, p. 130, SHG no. 296.

The watercolor “Poplars” features elements characteristic of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's style. He combines the surfaces into a concentrated form, often surrounded by a black contour. At the same time, a subtle symmetry defines the sheet's structure. Ultimately, it is the space between the two trees that splits the composition in two. The horizon lines correspond to the roofs on the right and the line of the hill on the left. In the Taunus paintings, of which our watercolor “Pappeln" is a prime example, a freer conception of the form can be observed. “The large-scale dissolved landscape is already bound and guided by flowing lines which are no longer exactly understood as contours." (Christiane Remm, Immer wieder muss die Welt neu gesehen werden. In: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Die Berliner Jahre, 1946-1976, Berlin 2005, p. 29). [EH]

In good condition, colors in fresh and bright impression.