Lot 125 Dα

Max Clarenbach's oeuvre includes far fewer spring and summer landscapes than than winter scenes. They appear more frequently during the time between 1909 and 1915, when Clarenbach was a member of the Sonderbund group, which he founded together with other artists. This large-format work can also be dated to around this time. It depicts a view of the Rhine near Wittlaer, possibly the view from the artist's garden. Clarenbach had his garden and villa constructed according to designs by the architect J.M. Olbrich at around this time.
The composition is dominated by diagonals leading from the meadow in the foreground across the leafless trees that cast long dark shadows in the mid-ground towards the Rhine in the distance. As with most of Clarenbach's works, this work also depicts the landscape devoid of human figures. Parts of the canvas are visible between the broad parallel pastose brushstrokes, corresponding to the artist's style at the time, which was influenced by the art of the French Impressionists.