Max Liebermann

Ernst Keiler, Germany (acquired in Germany in the 1930s)
A gift from the above in the 1970s

The canvas is not lined. It is slightly buckled on its stretcher at the upper left corner. Minor frame abrasion is present at the extreme edges and several pinholes dot the extreme perimeter, presumably from a previous mounting. There are a few confined areas of craquelure including toward the head and rear of the horse as well as to the thickest pigments along the horizon line. There are a few minor pindot losses within the neck of the horse as well as to its hindquarters. The surface is richly textured, though a bit dirty. Under UV light: no inpainting is apparent. Overall the work is in very good condition.
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Liebermann stayed in the seaside resort town of Scheveningen during the summers of 1900 and 1901 and found inspiration for his paintings in scenes of riders, tennis players and bathers on the beach of this fashionable enclave. The motif of the rider, as well as the polo player, would continue to preoccupy Liebermann in the following years and re-occur in his oeuvre until 1917. The present work captures the wildness of both the horse and the sea. The crashing waves and the saturated black swaying tail are illustrative of Liebermann's most experimental and arguably formally important phase. The art historian Barbara Gilbert writes that "Although Liebermann was preoccupied by his duties in the Berlin Secession from 1899 until 1911, this period proved to be the most adventuresome and experimental of his painting career. He had achieved his most inventive and exuberant body of work, in a series that explored aspects of paintings beyond a direct portrayal of a subject... This more experimental period of Liebermann’s career coincides with his expanding rise as an art theorist and writer. Each artist must look closely at the life around him, he wrote, and have the courage and freedom to interpret it from his own perspective: 'Nature viewed by all artists according to their individuality remains fundamental—the alpha and omega'" (Barbara C. Gilbert in Max Liebermann, From Realism to Impressionism (exhibition catalogue), Skirball Center, Los Angeles & Jewish Museum, New York, 2005-06, pp. 43-44).



The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Prof. Dr Matthias Eberle.