Arthur Segal

The Curator of the Arthur Segal Collection (acquired from the artist and sold: Sotheby's, London, July 1, 1987, lot 213)
Acquired at the above sale
Thence by descent

Bremen, Kunstverein, 1930, no. 163

Wulf Herzogenrath & Pavel Liska, Arthur Segal 1875-1844, Berlin, 1987, no. 256, illustrated n.p.

The canvas is strip lined and stretched on the original stretcher and in the original painted frame. The colors are bright and fresh. The thick paint layer on the canvas, as well as the frame, has developed some stable cracking which has been secured with a non-wax adhesive applied to the reverse of the canvas. There are a very few scattered pindots of inpainting visible under UV light. Overall this work is in good 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.

Arthur Segal was born in Jassy, Romania, to Jewish parents. From his early student days in Berlin, the artist moved to Munich in 1896 to become a pupil of Schmid-Reutte, and Hoelzel.  After travels throughout the art capitals of Europe, Segal began to live and exhibit in earnest in Berlin in 1904, exhibiting with the Berlin Secession.  He joined with the founders of the Neue Secession and exhibited there with Nolde, Kirchner and the other die Brucke artists. It was in the 1910s in Ascona, Switzerland, that he developed his best known style seen in the present work, employing the unusual combination of optical equi-balance and narrative painting. Segal went on to work with Jawlensky and Arp, and was also in contact with the Dada group. In 1920 he came back to Berlin and became a director of the Novembergruppe with which he exhibited until 1931. After declining the offer of a teaching post at the Bauhaus in Dessau, he continued to develop his own style of painting, preoccupied with depicting prismatic light and making relief sculptures (with the influence of Arp in mind), later returning to a more narrative style. Segal moved to Palma, Majorca, in 1933, as Germany became a less and less safe place to live and work, and then settled in 1936 in London. Arthur Segal founded his eponymous Painting School for Professionals and Non-Professionals the year he arrived, and continued making art, and teaching the principles of modern art, until he died.