Lesser Ury
(Birnbaum 1861–1931 Berlin)
Mondaufgang, 1898, oil on canvas, 108 x 150 cm, framed
This work is accompanied by a photo-certificate by Dr. Sibylle Groß
17 November 2025 and wil be included in the forthcoming Lesser Ury catalogue raisonné.
Provenance:
Estate of the artist, 1931
His estate sale, Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin 21 October 1932, lot 69
With Arthur Dahlheim (1866–1935), Berlin (acquired at the above)
Collection of Heinrich Grünewald (1894–1982), Berlin/Tel-Aviv/Zurich/Dorset
His sale, Weinmüller, Munich, 29 November – 1 December 1967, lot 2291
Galerie Paffrath, Düsseldorf (acquired at the above), until 1968
Private Collection, Rhineland, Germany
Sale, Lempertz, Cologne, 8 December 1984, lot 1151
Private Collection, Lower Saxony, Germany (acquired at the above)
Sale, Villa Grisebach, 23 November 1990, lot 3
Private Collection, South Germany (acquired at the above)
With Daxer & Marschall, Munich, March 2018
Private Collection, Germany
Exhibited:
Berlin, Bezirksamt Tiergarten von Berlin, Lesser Ury, Sonder ausstellung zum 100. Geburtstag des Künstlers, 26 September – 15 October 1961, no. 27
Berlin, Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum, Lesser Ury, Zauber des Lichts, 1995
Baden-Baden, Museum für Kunst und Technik des 19. Jahrhunderts Lesser Ury und das Licht, Ausstellung 5 April – 31 August 2014
Literature:
Lothar Brieger-Wasservogel, Berliner Ateliers (Lesser Ury u. a.), in: Westermanns illustrierte Monatshefte für das gesamte geistige Leben der Gegenwart, vol. 100, issue 595, April 1906, p. 45 with ill. (Studio shot, painting on the left easel)
Der Querschnitt, Berlin, vol. 12, end of May 1932, no. 5, p. 312–313 with ill. (last studio shot of Lesser Ury: painting on the easel on the left)
Die Weltkunst, vol. 37, no. 22, 15.11,1967, Anzeige Weinmüller, München, p. 1151 with ill. (Mondlandschaft über Schandau, 1898)
Hermann A. Schlögl, Karl Schwarz, Carl H. Ebbinghaus, exh.-cat. Ury, Zauber des Lichts, Berlin 1995, p. 164, p. 200, no. 74 with ill.
Hermann A. Schlögl / Matthias Winzen, exh.-cat. Lesser Ury und das Licht, Baden-Baden 2014, p. 20-21 with ill
Lesser Ury is regarded as a chronicler of Berlin by night. His depictions of cafés, cabarets, and rain-soaked boulevards bathed in lamplight shaped the image of the metropolis around 1900. Less well-known, but no less significant, are his landscapes, mostly of the Berlin area. In them, a quieter, symbolically charged dimension of his work comes to the fore.
Ury laid the groundwork for this early on. Beginning in 1882 in Brussels and later in Paris, he immersed himself in painting techniques and the major movements of European painting. He was particularly fascinated by the changing times of day and their atmospheric moods: twilight, the pale light of the moon. In these paintings, the representational recedes and dissolves in favor of the mood, entirely in the tradition of Corot.
Moonrise from 1898 is a striking example of this. Two imposing groups of trees frame the scene like dark backdrops. Between them, the moon rises as a warmly glowing disk into a greenish-blue sky, streaked with delicate shades of violet and turquoise. Beneath it lies a still, midnight-blue expanse of water; in the foreground, a meadow still shimmers green in the last light of day. As if carried by the wind, dark leaves dance through the air, lending a gentle movement to the tranquil composition. Ury dispenses with any narrative detail. What remains is pure atmosphere: the moment when day gives way to night and the landscape transforms into something surreal.
Although Ury was recognized as one of Berlin’s most important Impressionists, he remained a loner throughout his life. He publicly criticized his colleagues and was himself repeatedly subjected to harsh criticism in the press. It was not until late in life that he received the recognition he deserved: the Berlin Secession named him an honorary member, and numerous exhibitions followed.
The story behind Moonrise shows just how dear the painting was to him. Ury never parted with the painting; it remained in his possession until his death.
Specialist: Joëlle Romba
(Birnbaum 1861–1931 Berlin)
Mondaufgang, 1898, oil on canvas, 108 x 150 cm, framed
This work is accompanied by a photo-certificate by Dr. Sibylle Groß
17 November 2025 and wil be included in the forthcoming Lesser Ury catalogue raisonné.
Provenance:
Estate of the artist, 1931
His estate sale, Galerie Paul Cassirer, Berlin 21 October 1932, lot 69
With Arthur Dahlheim (1866–1935), Berlin (acquired at the above)
Collection of Heinrich Grünewald (1894–1982), Berlin/Tel-Aviv/Zurich/Dorset
His sale, Weinmüller, Munich, 29 November – 1 December 1967, lot 2291
Galerie Paffrath, Düsseldorf (acquired at the above), until 1968
Private Collection, Rhineland, Germany
Sale, Lempertz, Cologne, 8 December 1984, lot 1151
Private Collection, Lower Saxony, Germany (acquired at the above)
Sale, Villa Grisebach, 23 November 1990, lot 3
Private Collection, South Germany (acquired at the above)
With Daxer & Marschall, Munich, March 2018
Private Collection, Germany
Exhibited:
Berlin, Bezirksamt Tiergarten von Berlin, Lesser Ury, Sonder ausstellung zum 100. Geburtstag des Künstlers, 26 September – 15 October 1961, no. 27
Berlin, Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum, Lesser Ury, Zauber des Lichts, 1995
Baden-Baden, Museum für Kunst und Technik des 19. Jahrhunderts Lesser Ury und das Licht, Ausstellung 5 April – 31 August 2014
Literature:
Lothar Brieger-Wasservogel, Berliner Ateliers (Lesser Ury u. a.), in: Westermanns illustrierte Monatshefte für das gesamte geistige Leben der Gegenwart, vol. 100, issue 595, April 1906, p. 45 with ill. (Studio shot, painting on the left easel)
Der Querschnitt, Berlin, vol. 12, end of May 1932, no. 5, p. 312–313 with ill. (last studio shot of Lesser Ury: painting on the easel on the left)
Die Weltkunst, vol. 37, no. 22, 15.11,1967, Anzeige Weinmüller, München, p. 1151 with ill. (Mondlandschaft über Schandau, 1898)
Hermann A. Schlögl, Karl Schwarz, Carl H. Ebbinghaus, exh.-cat. Ury, Zauber des Lichts, Berlin 1995, p. 164, p. 200, no. 74 with ill.
Hermann A. Schlögl / Matthias Winzen, exh.-cat. Lesser Ury und das Licht, Baden-Baden 2014, p. 20-21 with ill
Lesser Ury is regarded as a chronicler of Berlin by night. His depictions of cafés, cabarets, and rain-soaked boulevards bathed in lamplight shaped the image of the metropolis around 1900. Less well-known, but no less significant, are his landscapes, mostly of the Berlin area. In them, a quieter, symbolically charged dimension of his work comes to the fore.
Ury laid the groundwork for this early on. Beginning in 1882 in Brussels and later in Paris, he immersed himself in painting techniques and the major movements of European painting. He was particularly fascinated by the changing times of day and their atmospheric moods: twilight, the pale light of the moon. In these paintings, the representational recedes and dissolves in favor of the mood, entirely in the tradition of Corot.
Moonrise from 1898 is a striking example of this. Two imposing groups of trees frame the scene like dark backdrops. Between them, the moon rises as a warmly glowing disk into a greenish-blue sky, streaked with delicate shades of violet and turquoise. Beneath it lies a still, midnight-blue expanse of water; in the foreground, a meadow still shimmers green in the last light of day. As if carried by the wind, dark leaves dance through the air, lending a gentle movement to the tranquil composition. Ury dispenses with any narrative detail. What remains is pure atmosphere: the moment when day gives way to night and the landscape transforms into something surreal.
Although Ury was recognized as one of Berlin’s most important Impressionists, he remained a loner throughout his life. He publicly criticized his colleagues and was himself repeatedly subjected to harsh criticism in the press. It was not until late in life that he received the recognition he deserved: the Berlin Secession named him an honorary member, and numerous exhibitions followed.
The story behind Moonrise shows just how dear the painting was to him. Ury never parted with the painting; it remained in his possession until his death.
Specialist: Joëlle Romba
