Christian Rohlfs
Sonnenblumen im Krug
Circa 1925
Water tempera and reed pen and ink on heavy, handmade watercolour laid paper 69.6 x 50.7 cm Framed under glass. Monogrammed 'CR'in black lower right. - On the verso, the edges circumferentially covered with brown paper tape.
Christian Rohlfs took the simple theme of a “sunflower in a jug” as the occasion to create a still life that impresses for the perfect simplicity of the composition and the complete surety in the use of color. Vivacious contours with black lines of different breadths capture the striking shapes of the floral theme. The bloom is intimated in yellow, but otherwise the colors largely depart from any realism. The palette is reduced to a bright blue, a reddish brown and green, while the broad brushstrokes are so free and casual as to foster an impression of transparency. The background and theme meld to form a balanced unity that is almost abstract in quality.
Catalogue Raisonné
Nor recorded by Vogt
Certificate
We would like to thank Birgit Schulte, Christian Rohlfs Archiv, Osthaus Museum Hagen, for confirmatory information. The work is registered under the archive no. CRA 194/19.
Provenance
Acquired by the previous owner at the Kunstkammer Köster, Mönchengladbach, in the 1970s, in family possession since, Rhineland