Lot 62 Dα

The painter Lesser Ury primarily worked in Berlin and became known, above all, for his nocturnal street scenes featuring anonymous passers-by. The pastel “Dame im Schnee” is the precise opposite of the pictures of Berlin as a metropolis: Ury has depicted a solitary young woman, provided her with an individual appearance and presented her in the form of a large figure that nearly fills the image.
Dressed in a high-necked black coat and wool hat, the young woman looks at us with a friendly smile. In the manner of a close-up photograph, Ury has pushed her directly up against the lower edge of the picture and placed her before a diffusely depicted background which shows – in this case, characteristically for Ury’s work – the vista of a Berlin street with a horse-drawn carriage and people hurrying along. From the beginning of his career Ury was fascinated by the visual phenomena of Berlin at night: the pedestrians and carriages on streets wet with rain, the various modern light sources like gas lanterns and electric signs, and – not least – the different atmospheres deriving from the weather, such as rain, fog and snow. He has accordingly covered the entire scene here with smaller and larger snowflakes, which form a charming contrast against the black coat.