Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Lot n° 737

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff - Steep coast. Watercolor and ink on wove paper (papier vélin). (19)55. Approx. 50 x 70,5 cm. Signed lower left, with work number "5515" lower right. - Finely balanced, color-intensive landscape depiction - Mature composition from the artist's late work - Painted during a summer stay in his longtime summer domicile in Sierksdorf For over twenty years, from 1951 to 1973, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff spends the summer months in the fishing village of Sierksdorf on the Bay of Lübeck. He is a guest there in the house of his painter friend Günter Machemehl (1911-1970), who has lived there since 1946. The characteristic Baltic Sea cliff of Sierksdorf is a recurring subject in Schmidt-Rottluff's late work. The present watercolor is also a wonderful example of the artist's intense examination of the influence of light and time of day on the subject's colorfulness. In this relative close-up, the sun-warm ochres, browns, and yellows of the sandy beach and bluff dominate, complemented by the rich dark green of the shaggy shrubs on the cliffs. Schmidt-Rottluff accentuates this with a brilliant light blue of the sky, for which only a narrow strip remains at the upper edge of the leaves. Before Sierksdorf was transformed into a lively seaside resort around 1970, the fishing village and its surroundings were popular motifs for numerous artists. Today, Schmidt-Rottluff's repeated stays in the town are commemorated by Schmidt-Rottluff-Allee, a mighty avenue of chestnut trees protected as a natural monument. The artist also depicted the street, which at that time was not yet named after him, in his painting "Seehofallee" in 1956, which is now in the Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz. Provenance: private collection, Berlin; private collection, Berlin. Taxation: Differentially taxed VAT: Margin Scheme