Oil on canvas 71.7 x 43 cm, framed. Signed and dated 'G Graf 24' lower right. Inscribed on the reverse 'Zur Erinnerung an sorgen-/ volle Februartage 1924/ u. die Nibelungentreue/ des verehrten Freunds/ Wolfgang Muff/ Graf' (In memory of sorrowful days in February 1924 and the unconditional loyalty of the adored friend). - Professionally restored.
Not recorded by Hüll
Following studies at the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts, among others under Adolf Hölzel, Gottfried Graf travelled to France, where he met the Cubist Albert Gleizes. This encounter, later turning into a friendship, was to be decisive for Graf's artistic progression. As a co-founder of the so-called 'Üecht' group in Stuttgart in 1919, together with artists such as Willy Baumeister and Oskar Schlemmer, Graf took part in propagating the avant-garde in Germany.
The dedication on the reverse refers to Graf's financial distress during the inflation. In 1924, his salary as lecturer at the Stuttgart Academy had been withdrawn. Gladly, this situation came to end one year later, when he acquired a professorship as head of the graphic department at the Academy. (See in general: Exhib. cat. Gottfried Graf 1881-1938. Retrospektive, Ulmer Museum 1981)
Certificate
We would like to thank Norbert Hüll, Cologne, for kind, confirming information
Provenance
Private possession, Rhineland