Emil Nolde - Lesende - image-1

Lot 202 D

Emil Nolde - Lesende

Auction 1004 - overview Cologne
30.11.2012, 00:00 - Modern Art
Estimate: 30.000 € - 35.000 €
Result: 46.360 € (incl. premium)

Emil Nolde

Lesende
1908

Aquarell, Tusche laviert 21,8 x 27,8 cm

The depiction of a woman reading has been a popular motif in the fine arts since antiquity. In past centuries, such illustrations were of inherently explosive nature, since men regarded reading as a strictly male domain in which contents were communicated from which women were better to be kept away. As the attitude towards reading became increasingly liberalized in the period from the seventeenth to the nineteenth century, the view of a reading woman was eventually taken for granted. More and more, through a variety of text material, female readers had the possibility to form their own ideas about the world.

The artists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were especially inspired by the artistic opportunities offered by the motif of a reading woman: the view of a woman absorbed in her reading in some quiet retreat could combine a portrait with an interior, but could also be an intimate nude scene. The picture could communicate the concentrated atmosphere and the detachment from the world that emanates from this activity.

In our beautiful watercolour, Emil Nolde focuses on the motif of a woman absorbed in her book. He leaves the surrounding interior undefined except for the suggestion of a lounge. The quickly carried out, precise brushstrokes with which he catches the slightly upright, reclining pose of the woman clearly display Nolde's mastery as a draftsman. The dark wash in the surrounding areas softly caresses the figure and accentuates in particular the light areas of the dress and the open book.

Provenance

Galerie Nierendorf (old frame label 'Nierendorf Gallery, New York'); formerly Collection Josef Haubrich, Cologne; private possession, South America