Hermann Max Pechstein

J. H. de Bois, Haarlem

Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Weening, Pound Ridge, New York (sale: Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York, December 8-9, 1965, lot 99)

Mrs. H. Spingarn (acquired at the above sale)

Private Collection, United States (acquired at the above sale and sold: Sotheby's, London, June 24, 2002, lot 20)

Acquired at the above sale

Excellent condition. Original canvas. Apart from some craquelure in the roof of the house and a couple of minor lines of inpainting in the white pigment at center right, this work is in original condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Painted circa 1919, the present work is an important landscape that Pechstein completed in the aftermath of World War I.  The beautifully vibrant coloration, contrasting brick reds with deep blues and fresh greens with the whites of the blossom on the trees, captures the mood of optimism and new life that spring evokes.  Frühling depicts a farmhouse in Ratzeburg, a small town surrounded by lakes a short distance from Hamburg in northern Germany, to which Pechstein periodically traveled on painting excursions during the late 1910s.  The atmosphere is one of bucolic harmony and man's integration into nature, with the cottages nestling amongst the lush foliage and the bright sunlight that illuminates the scene.  Pechstein's use of the vibrant palette of reds, blues and greens reflect the latent influence of German Expressionism, a movement in which he was a universally recognized master.  The Expressionist idiom still found a loud and clear voice in Pechstein's paintings of the later 1910s and early 1920s.