Emil Nolde

Nolde Stiftung, Seebüll

Marlborough Fine Art, London (1960)

Alfred Otten

Private Collection, Germany

Galerie Cazeau-Béraudière, Paris

Acquired from the above

Hamburg, Munich, Essen, Exposition de Emil Nolde, 1957, no. 175, illustrated in the catalogue

Rio de Janeiro, Museu de Arte Moderna, Arte Alema desde 1945, 1960, no. 167, illustrated in color in the catalogue

St. Gallen, Kunstverein, Emil Nolde, 1961, no. 27, illustrated in the catalogue

Berlin, Kongresshalle, Emil Nolde, 1962, no. 30

London, Marlborough Fine Art, Emil Nolde, 1964, no. 32, illustrated in the catalogue 

Martin Urban, Emil Nolde, Catalogue raisonné of the oil-paintings, vol. 2, London, 1990, no. 1253, illustrated p. 515 (catalogued as having been signed and titled on the stretcher)

Original canvas. No retouches are visible under ultra-violet light. Some very faintly visible separation cracks have developed in the orange flowers, yet these have not been retouched and neither are they unstable or unsightly. The left and right edges of the canvas are exactly as wide as the strecher and there is effectively no turn-over to attach the edges to the stretcher, however the picture is sufficiently well supported by the top and the bottom and also the frame, so as to not required any attention. The painting is in excellent condition.
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Üppiger Garten is a remarkable example from Nolde's important series of flower and garden paintings, characterized by the wonderfully bright colors of the flowers which spread richly to fill the entire canvas surface. In this work, the spatial order of the pictorial composition and the traditional treatment of depth and perspective give way to an outburst of vivid colors that celebrate the richness of nature and demonstrate the modernist approach to painting that Nolde adopted in the early years of his career. Through his dynamic and spontaneous brushstrokes, the artist creates a surface texture that appears to suggest movement and air in the painting, and to recreate the lively, shimmering effect of flowers bathed in sunlight.

Wherever Nolde settled, whether in Alsen or later in Utenwarf or in Seebüll, he enjoyed planting and designing flower gardens, which provided subject-matter for his paintings throughout his career. This passion can be seen as an expression of the artist's fascination with nature and especially flowers; it was not only his own small garden, but also the surrounding gardens of his neighbours in Alsen, that provided Nolde with a rich source of inspiration. Like Claude Monet, who never tired of depicting his flower garden at Giverny, Nolde took great joy in painting the flower gardens. As Manfred Reuther has noted, "Wherever Nolde lived, he tried to reshape his surroundings and to create flower gardens; in Alsen, at his house at Utenwarf by the North Sea, and later [...] at Seebüll. He longed for a life in harmony with nature, to which he had felt so close and unbroken an affinity since early childhood" (M. Reuther, 'Nolde and Seebüll', in Emil Nolde (exhibition catalogue), The Whitechapel Art Gallery, London, 1995, p. 69).

Speaking about the first time he painted the flowers of his garden, the artist recalled: "It was in midsummer. The colors of the flowers attracted me irresistibly and at once I was painting [...] The blossoming colors of the flowers and the purity of those colors - I love them. I loved the flowers and their fate: shooting up, blooming, radiating, glowing, gladdening, bending, wilting, thrown away and dying" (E. Nolde, quoted in Emil Nolde (exhibition catalogue), The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1963, p. 49). It was in his flower paintings, including the present work, that Nolde sought to capture the drama of untamed nature, using an Expressionist palette and applying paint to the entire painting surface in quick, expressive brushstrokes.

This sense of wilderness and fascination with colour certainly appealed to the German Expressionist group Die Brücke, who invited Nolde to become a member. Both his intense preoccupation with the subject of flowers and his emphasis on colour reflect Nolde's continuing interest in the art of Van Gogh. The strong, primary tones, the bold brushstrokes and the magnificent texture of the surface in Üppiger Garten (Luxuriant Garden) undoubtedly demonstrate a reference to the great Dutch post-impressionist. At the same time this work presents a powerful example of Nolde's admiration of the beauty of nature, as well as his technique of using colour as the most important means of expression.