Lot 240 N

“In the area around the Eastern Pomeranian town of Leba, Pechstein found a landscape whose timeless seclusion and natural setting were very reminiscent of his beloved Nida. In Leba a narrow spit of land with a gigantic sand dune divides the open sea from Lake Leba, a wide lagoon whose reed-filled shores and calm surface offered a charming contrast to the turbulent ocean. In the sun-and-light pictures from Leba and its countryside, Pechstein creates an image of his vision of a world for a life in which peace, spiritual recuperation and inner harmony in concert with the environment seemed possible. With these skies and their light, he elevated the quiet landscape to a timeless place completely removed from the turmoil and difficulties of the present.” (Janina Dahlmanns, Pommersche Paradiese. Max Pechstein in Leba und Rowe, in exhib. cat. Max Pechstein. Künstler der Moderne, Bucerius Kunst Forum, Hamburg 2017, p. 149).
Our large-format watercolour from 1922 depicts the bridge over the mill-race in Leba and strikingly conveys an understanding of the landscape shaped by a deep emotional impact. By all means close to his natural model, Pechstein has used his typical palette of blue, red, yellow and green in delicate, tranquil tones. While Pechstein's explosive Expressionism of the Brücke period may flare up once again in the boldly placed highlights from the rays of sunlight, the masterfully captured atmosphere of the misty morning sun, the reflections on the water and the boats peacefully at rest already herald his special interest in the atmosphere and mood of the landscape, which would have such a sustained impact on his work of the following decades.