Lot 526 Dα

In the final phase of his late work, Christian Rohlfs's tireless enthusiasm for experimentation and his artistic curiosity led him to a specific formation of paint and colour that enabled him to realise the dematerialisation of his pictures' motifs in terms of an entirely new quality. By repeatedly rubbing out and applying the paint, he succeeded in eliminating the brushstroke in favour of a pure and simultaneously diffuse chromatic effect. Rohlfs owed this entirely new development of formal and thematic possibilities in dealing with colour not least to his stays in Ascona, on the shores of Lago Maggiore, where the exploration of his means of expression was linked all the more strongly with the question of the representability of light. This unique quality in his handling of light and colour is also documented by our atmospheric image of the lake: before the striking silhouette of the chain of mountains, which climb up from the water in glowing tones of blue, Lago Maggiore seems to lie there tranquil and unmoved in the bright light of the cloud-filled sky.