Ludwig Meidner

Sale: Villa Grisebach, Berlin, 26th November 1993, lot 22
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

Wisconsin, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Art Museum, The Janet & Marvin Fishman Collection: New Acquisitions, Recent Gifts and Old Friends, 1994
Berlin, Altes Museum, A Bitter Truth - The Avant Garde and the Great War, 1994,
Milwaukee, Milwaukee Art Museum, Making Marks: Drawing in the 20th Century from Picasso to Kiefer, 1998, no. 96
Milwaukee, Patrick & Beatrice Haggerty Museum of Art, German and Austrian Art of the 1920s and 1930s: The Marvin and Janet Fishman Collection, 2002
Turin, Galleria D'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Metropolis. The City Imagined by the Avant-Gardes, 2006

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the mount at the top two corners. There are several repaired tears along the lower and upper edges, the longest 4cm. in length, and another 2cm. repaired tear to the lower centre of the right edge. There are flattened creases along all four edges and discolouration to all four edges. Apart from several areas of discolouration to the verso, and some studio dirt and handling marks, mainly to the edges, this work is in fairly good condition. Colours: The paper tone is warmer and the medium more strident in the original.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Menschenmenge im Bahnhof is a powerful expression of Meidner's total immersion in the physical and psychological experience of the modern urban landscape. Placing himself anonymously amid the chaos of the crowd, the artist captures the sense of anxiety surrounding the train's imminent departure. This foreboding scene, with its violent bursts of artificial light, recalls the apocalyptic landscapes Meidner created during 1912-13.

Meidner was greatly influenced by Italian Futurism, which he had first encountered in 1912. The work of Umberto Boccioni, in particular, made a significant impression upon him, both in terms of subject and style. The present drawing shares with Boccioni's triptych, States of Mind, an interest in the convergence of man and machine at the train station; an abstracting style has been employed in both compositions to render the two almost indistinguishable, both pictorially and metaphorically.