Lot 215 Dα

In a letter to Aloys Mayer in Amsterdam, whom in June 1891 Liebermann most probably sent the watercolour here along with a portfolio of drawings and an etching, the artist wrote: “Since the watercolour seemed to appeal to you I would ask that you retain the same, but I did not wish to withhold my own opinion on the matter: For you have shown so much trust in me that I feel doubly obliged to be most sincere toward you: And I must therefore confess to you that I very much advocate the drawings: Certainly, these require a loving viewer who takes the time to look at them in depth. Of course, they were made swiftly but I do hope that they reveal the fact that they were preceded by 15 or even 20 years of painstaking study. Not just that which is drawn but far more that which is not drawn is what the viewer is meant to feel on seeing them.” (letter 1891/145, quoted from: Max Liebermann, Briefe, ed. Ernst Braun, Baden-Baden, 2011, vol. 1, 1869-1895, pp. 197f). Evidently Aloys Mayer was interested in particular in our delightful watercolour of a woman making butter - the package Liebermann sent also included a few drawings whose special qualities he sought to emphasize.
Not unlike the famous depictions of the flax barn, for many years women busy sewing, embroidering or lacemaking formed an important part of Max Liebermann's oeuvre. He painted and drew them outdoors or in a home setting, and in all cases his treatment of light was quite masterly. Liebermann's virtuoso use of light and shadow can also be seen in our rare, highly atmospheric watercolour, which presumably shows a maid from Laren with a butter churn standing before a brightly lit window.