Walter Ophey - Grüner Christus - image-1

Lot 483 Dα

Walter Ophey - Grüner Christus

Auction 1059 - overview Cologne
27.11.2015, 18:00 - Modern Art
Estimate: 20.000 € - 30.000 €
Result: 24.800 € (incl. premium)
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Walter Ophey

Grüner Christus
1913-1918

Oil on canvas 64.5 x 69.5 cm Framed. Signed 'WOphey' (joined) verso on the canvas. - With few linear retouches. Otherwise in fine condition with fresh colours.

Just before and during World War I, the artist produced a whole series of works featuring motifs of Christ and Madonna. The present, almost square version shows Christ crucified with a bowed head, the eyelids closed. Ophey presumably used the sculpture of a Romanic Corpus Christi as a model. The short, wide, and vehement brushstroke is typical for the works of this period. By means of reducing his palette to vibrant green and strong bluish purple, the artist is able to expressively emphasize the experienced suffering.
According to Kraus, the painting was reproduced as a postcard in 1930 (cf. Stefan Kraus, Ophey, Leben und Werk, Cologne 1933, p. 212).

Catalogue Raisonné

Kraus G 369

Certificate

We would like to thank Stefan Kraus, Cologne, for the kind additional information.

Provenance

Pastor Hilbert, Waldbröl (acquired directly from the artist); gift of the previous owner, in family possession, Rhineland, since