KARL SCHMIDT-ROTTLUFF

KARL SCHMIDT-ROTTLUFF

(Rottluff near Chemnitz 1884–1976 Berlin)

Spessarttannen. 1950.

Oil on canvas.

Signed lower right: S. Rottluff.
On the reverse signed, titled and numbered on the stretcher: Schmidt=Rottluff "Spessarttannen" ((505)).

76 × 90 cm.

Provenance:
- Galerie Rosenbach, Hannover.
- Swiss private collection, acquired in 1971 from the above gallery und since then owned by the same family.

Literature:
Will Grohmann: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Stuttgart 1956, p. 274 (with ill.).

Landscapes play a central role in the work of Schmidt-Rottluff. It is therefore not surprising that the painter from the "Die Brücke" group continually sought rural seclusion in order to find inspiration for his work. At the end of the 1940s, Schmidt-Rottluff, who then lived in Berlin, travelled to the German mountain regions in the Taunus and Spessart for an extended period.

The late work, "Spessarttannen”, from 1950 was created during that period of travel. Schmidt-Rottluff dedicated himself to a popular motif: the depiction of trees. Around 1950 the artist created a series of forest landscapes with fir trees, and thus the painting Spessarttannen assumes a central role in the artist's overall work. In it he perfected his characteristic "zone painting”, developing an atmospheric forest landscape out of individual, clearly separated zones of colour. This expressive painting testifies to Schmidt-Rottluff's special connection to nature. The intense colours and abstract shapes reflect his personal interpretation of the landscape. In a letter to W. R. Valentiner dated 19 July 1947, Schmidt-Rottluff explained: "[...] one can only gain a new view of the world from a new position on nature." (Thiem/Zweite 1989, p. 101).