Lot 306a D

In her still lifes Gabriele Münter sought to give expression to her own distinctive view of the world. It is thus hardly surprising that a substantial aspect of these pieces is based on the artist's exploration of her immediate surroundings and environment. During the period she spent in Murnau, Münter intensively occupied herself with Upper Bavarian folk art. She was particularly interested in small-scale wood and ceramic figures with a religious background. In the years 1909 to 1914 these objects would become central elements in her still-life compositions.
In 1911 she created a number of enigmatic works, some of which feature motifs with religious connotations; in many respects, these represent the essence of Münter's art (cf. Anne Mochon, Gabriele Münter. Between Munich and Murnau, New Haven 1980, p. 46). Within a pictorial space that became more and more diffuse, Münter constructed scenes made up of figurines, flowers, glasses and bowls, which can simultaneously be understood as distillations of her artistic concept.
The “Stilleben mit Heiligem Georg” (Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, GMS 666) was also created in this context. Here, Münter refers to the mystic representation of Saint George which was most relevant in the context of “Der Blaue Reiter” (1912) almanac, too (s. comparative illus.). Like the Saint George in that key work, the present piece is thus also able to point to a hidden world of the spiritual, which opens up within the interstice between traditional folk belief and artistic avant-garde.