Lot 111 D

The colourful watercolor 'Blühende Bäume und Gartenhäuschen' by Karl Schmidt-Rottluff is a testimony to the long-standing and extremely fruitful friendship between the artist and his gallerist Hanna Bekker vom Rath (1893-1983). As early as 1931, the painter and later art dealer Hanna Bekker discovered works by Schmidt-Rottluff in the Frankfurt exhibition 'Vom Abbild zum Sinnbild'. She was so fascinated by the mood of the painting 'Mittelmeerhafen' on display at the time that she purchased it from the exhibition and invited the artist to her home and studio in Hofheim, the 'Blaue Haus”, for the first time the following year. Their first meeting led to a friendship in which Hanna Bekker supported the painter during the stressful period of the 1930s and Schmidt-Rottluff taught her how to paint. When he gave up his teaching position at the Berlin academy in 1954, she had a small house built in the Hofheim garden, in which she reserved the second floor for his summer stays. It is thanks to her commitment that his works found their way back into museum collections after the end of the war.

The present watercolour was probably painted from the veranda of the 'Blaue Haus' in 1939. With quick, confident brushstrokes in bright red, yellow, orange and green, Schmidt-Rottluff captured the blossoming almond tree on the left, the chestnut tree on the right and the curved path that draws our gaze to the inviting garden shed in the center. More than almost any other watercolor, this work testifies to the inspiration and joy of painting that Hanna Bekker gave him on her estate.