Heinrich Campendonk

Bernhard Koehler, Berlin

Buchholz Gallery (Curt Valentin), New York

Alien Property Custodian (vested in the Custodian under vesting order No. 3711, May 29, 1944)

Acquired by the father of the present owner in the late 1950s

Original canvas. There are areas of paint separation and a fine network of craqueleur in the more heavily painted areas, mostly in the trees along the top and in the leaves along the lower right. Under ultra-violet light, there is no evidence of retouching. Over all, this work is in very good condition. Colors: The colors are more subtle than appear in the catalogue illustration.
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This bold composition typifies Campendonk's style between 1917 and 1919, a style which can be described as 'lyrical Expressionism.' During this period, the artist moved to Seeshaupt on the Starnberger See, far removed from the horrors of World War I. Campendonk painted many works with the theme of 'man and animal in country settings', always evocative of an idyllic world, searching both for Man's unity in his natural state with Nature and for his original innocence in Paradise. In the present work, humankind coexists at ease with the animal world. Peter Selz considered that "By means of his extremely personal symbolism, Campendonk has created an idyllic, evocative world that defies rational explanation. As early as 1921 Georg Biermann pointed out that among European artists Campendonk was most closely related to Marc Chagall, probably with reference to the mysterious symbolism that each artist employed" (Peter Selz, German Expressionist Painting, Berkeley, 1973, p. 309).

This work reflects the earlier influence of the artist's involvement with the Blaue Reiter group and the work of his colleagues Kandinsky and Marc. Peter Selz traced the genesis of Campendonk's personal idiom: "When the Rhenisch painter Heinrich Campendonk came to live in Bavaria, he saw peasant votive pictures under glass. Fascinated by this naïve, forceful expression, he tried to re-create - not imitate - the spirit, technique and subject matter of folk art. He settled among the Bavarian peasants and lived on their farms for many years, first in Sindelsdorf and then, after being discharged from the army in 1916, in Seeshaupt, on lake Starnberg. Aided by his strong sense of color, he soon mastered the technique of under-glass painting. After the deaths of Marc and Macke, who exerted such a strong influence on his work, Campendonk carried on many of their forms and concepts and at the same time was deeply occupied with the problems of cubism... Campendonk has established a formal unity of patterns, color, and overlapping planes... objects are painted in their broadest, simplest and most significant aspects" (ibid.).