Lot 209 D

According to the certificate by Manfred Reuther, the motif depicts the scenery around Utenwarf in Wiedau lowland, where Nolde lived since 1916 (M. Reuter in the letter accompanying his certificate).

In 1912, Emil Nolde bought the old farmhouse, Utenwarf an der Wiedau, near Tondern, and in 1916, after returning from the South Seas, he settled down there. The beauty of the austere landscape, the natural drama of the clouds, water and the constantly changing light fascinated him. Here was nature in its pristine state, here he could become one with nature during his intense painting process. In Utenwarf, Nolde created himself a peaceful, secluded refuge, and shared with his neighbours a simple life defined by the rhythm of the seasons. He kept a small farm, he went fishing and hunting.
“There are people who are absolutely unable to understand how we - although we could certainly do otherwise - can want to live in this flat, 'boring' area, where there are no forests, no hills or mountains, and where even along the banks of small waters there is not a single tree. This is surely what all of the ordinary travellers think as they quickly pass through. Our landscape is modest. It is far from being exhilarating or opulent. We know that. But it rewards the love of its intimate observers with an infinite amount of peaceful, profound beauty, austere grandeur and stormily wild life as well.” (Emil Nolde, Mein Leben, with an epilogue by Martin Urban, Cologne 1976, p. 329).
In this watercolour, the artist depicts the landscape surrounding Utenwarf at dusk, in a somber mood that seems to announce stormy weather. With its low-lying grey-yellow clouds the sky hangs heavily over the broad grasslands. On the horizon, against the background of one last thin strip of blue sky, one can just barely make out the red roofs of individual farms built up on their mounds of earth. The mighty expanses of clouds, earth, and grass that dominate the composition are delineated with bold, black contours and form an ornamental pattern that displays solidity which is exceptional among Nolde's watercolours.