Oil on card 48.5 x 34.5 cm, framed. Unsigned. - Verso with three old, undated newspaper articles, one of them on the death of Max Schlichter [1933], Rudolf Schlichter's brother who managed the restaurant and artist's café 'Schlichter', in Berlin, an article on literary purges in which Rudolf Schlichter is named, and a further article on the foundation of the Munich artist's collective 'Neue Gruppe' [1947], in which Schlichter participated. - Good condition.
While Rudolf Schlichter created numerous portraits of his wife, relations, friends and acquaintances - paintings which show his great understanding for and interest in his subjects - there are not many self-portraits among his oeuvre. “Compared with his colleagues - e.g. Otto Dix, Christian Schad and Karl Hubbuch - self-portraits of Rudolf Schlichter do not occur very frequently, and more prestigious paintings of him are in fact quite rare. When he portrayed himself, he usually did so spontaneously, without posing, showing himself as an observer, a role which is further underlined by his spectacles and his head turned towards the viewer.” (Günther Metken, in: Rudolf Schlichter - Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, exhibition catalogue, Tübingen, Wuppertal and Munich, 1997/98, p. 202). Also, this early self-portrait displays a certain restlessness. The young man, Schlichter, appears to be meeting the viewer's eyes with some nervousness and with sceptical reservation, revealing very little of his personality.
Provenance
Formerly private possession, Calw, since then in familiy possession