HEINRICH CAMPENDONK Cows in the Forest

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1 Auction December 2018, 6.30 pm karlandfaber.com HEINRICH CAMPENDONK Cows in the Forest LOT 542 Karl & Faber Fine Art Auctions Amiraplatz Munich Germany T F info@karlandfaber.com karlandfaber.com Managing Partner: Dr. Rupert Keim Amtsgericht München HRB KARL & FABER 1

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3 Heinrich Campendonk 1889 Krefeld Amsterdam Cows in the forest Oil on canvas, relined. (19)19. C x 70.5 cm. Signed with the artist s monogram and dated lower right. Firmenich 785. We are thankful to Mrs. Gisela Geiger for the extensive information she has kindly provided for cataloguing this lot. Literature: Schürmeyer, Walter, Heinrich Campendonk, Frankfurt 1920, ill. 5; Schmidt, Paul Ferdinand, Heinrich Campendonk, in: Feuer, II, Weimar 1920/21, b/w ill. p. 470; Biermann, Georg, Heinrich Campendonk, in: Junge Kunst, vol. 17, Leipzig 1921, ill. 24; Wember, Paul, Heinrich Campendonk, Krefeld 1960 (first monograph as well as exhibition cat. Krefeld 1960), p. 48 and 84 (titled Landschaft mit Tieren (landscape with animals), around 1925, lost), no. 58, with b/w ill. p. 47. Provenance: Galerie Schüler, Berlin, 1953; Acquired from the above by the previous owner; Thence by descent to the present owner, private collection, USA /

4 VG BILD-KUNST, BONN 2018 Penzberg rider, 1918, watercolour, cm, Museum Abteiberg Mönchengladbach Flower painting, c. 1918, oil on canvas, private collection, Belgium The end of the Great War in 1918 marked the outbreak of the revolution in Bavaria, the outcome of widespread social and political tensions. For Campendonk, who together with Paul Klee was committed to defining the role of art in a new society, an extremely productive work phase began. From 1919 on he developed the strong colours of his Blue Rider period into his own form of light-dark painting. While still creating paintings in strong colours, the simplified, often repeated motifs now float in a dark pictorial space, in which colours and a sophisticated play of light create a magical glow. Campendonk s works have repeatedly been described as mystical ; darkness lends them a special depth, and the use of colour and light give the composition a dramatic atmosphere that contrasts with the simple motifs taken from nature. The compositions recall stage settings indeed, by the beginning of the 1920s Campendonk was very successfully designing theatre stage sets. In the years following the First World War, the forest as a dark, mysterious space became a basic element in Campendonks pictures. He populated these dark woods with animals or humans, usually standing or sitting motionless between the tree trunks. These works frequently exhibit an almost surreal tension in their staged statics, as seen in the present painting: the massive forms of the standing cows seem motionless. Their bodies, rendered in perfect profile, are placed singularly in the dark space, in contrast to the nature of the cow as herd animal. This static depiction stands in stark contrast to the lively colour scheme. The dark forest with its flashes of colour and light remains an important motif for Campendonk right up to his late works. The many cows in Campendonk s pictures refer directly to painting as an artistic activity. Campendonk sees the bull as a symbol of St. Luke, the patron saint of painters - and writes that as a painter one must be patient like cattle. The oil painting Cows in the Forest from 1919 shows the influence of two other techniques in which Campendonk created great works at that time: watercolours and reverse glass painting. In their multi-layeredness, both techniques allow special effects of transparency, one of Campendonk s major concerns. In this work, the influence of his watercolour technique is visible in the thin application of paint, which enables subtle shades and colour gradients. The picture is built up in fine layers; the canvas structure with its undercoat shines through the paint and gives the surface a special structure. Strokes and dots are placed in a deliberately simple manner on top of the painted surfaces, as if using a watercolour brush. Inspired by the special technique in his reverse glass, Campendonk created empty contours, as seen in the root of the central tree. For his reverse glass paintings, the artist used an etching needle on the painted dark background to expose fine structures and contours on the reverse side of the glass plate. These he would paint over in strongly contrasting colours, visible from the front, the show side. Other oil paintings by Campendonk from 1919 also show this peculiarity of contrasting contours. Campendonks characteristic motifs of this time include the small, petalled flowers, also found for example in the Penzberger Reiter watercolour from 1918, and simplified figures, like the one found above the moon, only noticeable on repeated ob ser vation. These motifs function as self-portrayals in his paintings, belying the fleetingness of the brushstroke to demonstrate a structured and calculated feeling for motif and picture language. 4

5 Trees, c. 1946, reverse glass painting, 50,2 60,6 cm, private collection, on permanent loan to the Museum Penzberg VG BILD-KUNST, BONN 2018 Shepherdess with goats, 1920, oil on canvas, cm, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag 5