Emil Nolde Lot n° 532

Two large amaryllis flowers with saint figure. Watercolour on fine Japan. (Circa 1925). Approx. 47 x 35 cm. Signed lower left. Emil Nolde is a trained wood sculptor and his early years of travel after his apprenticeship lead him to Munich, Karlsruhe and Berlin as a carver, before he slowly developed into a freelance painter through drawing courses and an employment as a drawing teacher. It is therefore not surprising that in his œuvre there are repeatedly various references to his love of wood as a material. The direct reference to the frequently used technique of woodcut is particularly obvious. Beyond this, however, there is also the less obvious and therefore all the more fascinating group of works entitled "Still Life with Figure", which attest to Nolde's affinity with sculpture. In more than 100 paintings and watercolours he devoted himself to this motif in numerous variations. At first Nolde sketched in the Berlin Ethnological Museum, but soon his steadily growing personal collection of saintly figurines, native decorative arts and exotic carvings from his trip to the South Seas in 1913/14 served as his inspiration. 'Collecting figurines' was Nolde's passion, eventually his collection numbered almost 500 objects, which surrounded him in his everyday life both in his Berlin apartment and later in his house in Seebüll. In general, Nolde is not concerned with the exact reproduction of the figures, he freely changes posture and details, adapting them to his pictorial compositions. Despite all the changes, however, the models remain almost always identifiable. Arranged with flowers and blossoms of various kinds, he created his very own group of works, the "Still Life with Figure". In the present watercolour, Nolde depicts a painted wooden figure of St. John the Baptist from around 1500 together with two deep red amaryllis blossoms. With strong contrasts of light and shadow he accentuates the internal drawing of the sculpture, which is further enhanced by the complementary choice of colours in blue and ochre-orange. Due to the reduced depiction without recognizable Christian attributes, the figure acquires a spirituality that is independent of specific creeds and is now universal and symbolic. In combination with the large fresh blossoms and leaves of the amaryllis, which protectively surround and shield the figure, Nolde also gives the historical object new life and an immediate reference to the present. With a photographic expert opinion by Prof. Dr. Martin Urban, Nolde Foundation, Seebüll, dated 18.2.1997. Followed by a handwritten confirmation by Prof. Dr. Manfred Reuther, Seebüll Ada and Emil Nolde Foundation, dated 29.9.2006. Exhibition: Günther Franke Collection. Paintings, Drawings, Prints, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich 1960, Cat.-No. 549; Hommage à Günther Franke, Museum Villa Stuck, Munich 1983, Cat.-No. 166, with ill. Provenance: Estate of the artist, Seebüll; Günther Franke Collection, Munich; Private property, Southern Germany. Taxation: differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme)