Christian Rohlfs Lot n° 531

House in the Maggia Valley. Wassertempera on textured laid paper by PM Fabriano. (19)33. Approx. 57 x 79 cm. Monogrammed and dated lower right. Titled "Haus am Maggiatal" by another hand on verso, dated "1933" and inscribed "n. ausstellen", "33/22" and "F.XXXI.4". From 1927 Rohlfs, now almost eighty years old, lived every year from spring to autumn in Ascona in the Swiss canton of Ticino. Again and again he paints the farms in the mountain valleys of the Verzasca, the Maggia and the Bosco, north of Lake Maggiore. On forays through these areas, he does not make any sketches, but simply memorizes their image through intense contemplation. In addition, his wife Helene photographs the typical buildings as possible motifs for his paintings. From this stock and his memory, the artist chooses his templates, the painterly implementation takes place in the studio. Here he creates colour-intensive works, sheets full of transparency and lightness, permeated by Mediterranean light. Our picture shows a house in the Maggia valley. On heavy painting handmade paper Rohlfs first applies the water tempera in the pure colours of light blue, warm yellow and earthy brown. He then rubs off the applied paint with a hard brush and the water jet of a hand-held shower, so that the paper shimmers through and the old farmhouse appears bright and light, as if bathed in shimmering sunlight. The lucid technique of watercolor and tempera painting becomes even more translucent here as the paint is scraped off, allowing Rohlfs to increasingly dematerialize what is depicted. Only the geometricizing outline of the house and the broad strokes and short brushed strokes woven into a carpet of color set accents. They hint at balconies, windows and doors. The compositional centre of the picture is the white cloth hung as if by chance over the balustrade of the balcony. Situated exactly in the optical center of the picture, it becomes, as it were, a place of dematerialization in which even the color evaporates. This large-format work is a typical example of Rohlfs' light-filled phase between 1930 and 1934, which represents the crowning conclusion of his late work. Vogt 1933/22. Provenance: artist's estate, stamp on verso (cf. Lugt 2143a); private collection, Germany. Taxation: Differentially taxed (VAT: Margin Scheme).