Marius Bauer (1867-1932)

The white peacock

signed ‘M Bauer’ (lower right)

oil on canvas, 116x176 cm

Exhibited:
-Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum, ‘Eere-tentoonstelling M.A.J. Bauer’, 11 March-6 April 1933, no. 14.

Literature:
-R.W.P. de Vries Jr., ‘M.A.J. Bauer’, Amsterdam 1944, ill. p. 107. -André Kraayenga, ‘Marius Bauer (1867-1932), Oogstrelend Oosters’, Wassenaar/Zwolle 2007 (Bauer Documentatie Stichting), ill. p. 144, no. 122.

Provenance:
-The wife of the artist Jo Bauer-Stumpff (1873-1964), thence by descent in the family.
-Auction, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 21 November 1988, lot 176.
-With Kunsthandel Rueb, Amsterdam.
-Auction, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 27 October 1999, lot 191.
-Private collection, Amsterdam.

Marius Bauer was encouraged from a young age to make a career in the field of art and studied at the Art Academy of The Hague. When he dropped out, he found a mentor in the painter Salomon van Witsen (1833-1911). With the financial support of the art dealer E.J. van Wisselingh, Bauer made many travels to the Orient, visiting North Africa and countries such as Turkey, India, and Palestine, which deeply influenced his works. During these study trips, Bauer made hundreds of sketches and drawings that he reworked in his Amsterdam studio.

Bauer is primarily known for his spontaneous graphic works depicting mosques, snake charmers, and belly dancers. This makes the subject of the present lot rather unique in Bauer’s oeuvre. This oil on canvas depicts a still life with a white peacock, a Persian helmet, and Eastern weapons. Unlike the other Orientalists, Bauer’s palette is rather monotonous. The use of pearl grey, light blue, bronze, and some touches of blue and green in the peacock’s plumage all contribute to a harmonious rendering. His light brushstrokes, the attention to detail, and the light in which he painted them reflect the enchanting appeal that the East must have had to him.

Given the subject, Bauer’s choice for this almost monumental painting is rather unusual. Perhaps the Dutch Orientalist wanted this particular painting to be remembered in his oeuvre. Painted in the later years of his life, the present lot encapsulates the many impressions that Bauer must have amassed throughout his journeys. Not only is the painting masterfully executed, the painter of the East renders on canvas the impression of a fairy-tale atmosphere.