Lot 359 Dα

Christian Rohlf's lasting interest in the blooming plant, or rather flower, especially refers to their overwhelming variation of expression. In the course of many years, the artist repeatedly painted Canna Indica, the Indian shot, the flower of which is characterised by its extraordinary colour intensity on the one hand and its elaborate diversity of shapes on the other hand. Rohlf's Canna Indica possesses neither traceable contours nor clearly discernible colour planes and in the elusive dissolution of the boundaries of painting, they pay reverence to the complex structure of the Canna blossom.
1919 was an artistically important year for Christian Rohlfs. In the summer, he exhibited his works at the Kestner-Gesellschaft in Hanover and only a few months later, he was invited by Ludwig Justi to a special exhibition at the Berlin National Gallery.