Rudolf Levy
Natura morta con fiasco
1941
Oil on canvas 65 x 80 cm Framed. Signed 'R. Levy' in red lower center to right. Verso signed, titled, and dated 'Rudolf Levy: Natura morta con fiasco. 1941' on upper stretcher bar. - Minor surface soiling and with minor craquelure.
“That which is true of the late landscapes - the continuation and perfection of the style which reached maturity in the twenties - also applies to the painter's late still lifes. Here, as well, the magical component in the capturing of the objects and the coloristic concentration predominate, and it is specifically these qualities that cause the late still-life ensembles to become a cohesive group of works. In them, the sensual and rational experience of reality combine to form an autonomous pictorial cosmos, an aesthetic and logical order. The intrinsic value of the decorative, incorporated into the construction made up of objective elements and their mutual formal and chromatic relationships, defines Levy's notion of harmony. This finds exemplary expression in these compositions” (Susanne Thesing, Rudolf Levy. Leben und Werk, Nuremberg 1990, p. 182).
Catalogue Raisonné
Thesing 220 (Stilleben mit Früchten und Fiasco)
Provenance
Former private collection, Hesse; in family possession since
Exhibitions
Florence 1950 (Galleria d'Arte L'Indiano), Rudolf Levy, cat. no. 10; Turin 1954 (Museo Civico, Palazzo Madama), Espressionismo e Arte Tedesca del 20. Secolo, cat. no. 14; Hanover 1955 (Deutscher Künstlerbund), 5. Jahresausstellung, cat. no. 64; Frankfurt 1959 (Frankfurter Kunstkabinett Hanna Bekker vom Rath), Rudolf Levy, Gedächtnisausstellung, cat. no. 21; Frankfurt 1963 (Kunstverein), Moderne Malerei. Frankfurter Privatbesitz, cat. no. 75 with illus.; Frankfurt 1975 (Frankfurter Westend Galerie), Deutsche Künstler in Florenz während des Krieges, cat. no. 41 with illus.