Lot 169 Dα

Max Stern studied at the academy in his home town of Düsseldorf as well as in Munich. However, he found himself less inspired by the Academic tradition than by the Hague School and French Impressionism. Stern assimilated the forceful, broad brushstrokes and free, lively colour palette of these schools, and it was only in his late works under the influence of New Objectivism in the latter half of the 20s that his colours became more sober and nuanced.
This large-format work, depicting a procession in a southern setting and already on view at the VII. Internationalen Kunstausstellung in Munich in 1897, is much earlier. It is presumably based upon impressions made by the painter during a several month long trip to Venice which he undertook as a young man directly after his military service. The piece already shows the marked interest in the depiction of social interaction that the artist was to explore throughout his career, in which he created depictions of people in their often humble daily lives and work, devoid of exaggerated pathos or idealistic exaltation.