Oil on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right. Signed, titled and inscribed with the work number "110/34" on the reverse, there also with a label with the stamped number "449". 41 x 33 cm. [EH]. - A wonderful work from the group of flower still lifes from Gabriele Münter's late work. - With bold colors, strong contrasts and a clearly defined background, Gabriele Münter creates a still life characterized by a strong allure. - Exhibited at the first Gabriele Münter retrospective at the Lenbachhaus in Munich in 1962 and later several times in the USA. - The artist's works featured in the first documenta in Kassel as early as 1955. LITERATURE: Christie's. London, Impressionist / Modern day Sale, February 7. 2013, lot 449.
Galerie Valentin, Stuttgart, 1937, cat. no. 32 (with a label on the reverse). Gabriele Münter. Oil paintings 1903-1937, Marlborough Fine Art Ltd, London, September - October 1960, cat. no. 48 (with a albel on the reverse). Gabriele Münter, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, October 13 - December 2, 1962, cat. no. 103, (illu. in color 24, (here: "Zwei Sträusse vor Blauem Tablett") Gabriele Münter. Between Munich and Murnau, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard, August 11 - September 25, 1980, and Preinceton University, November 22, 1980 - January 22, 1981, cat. no. 63 (with a label on the reverse). The Long Island Collections. A century of art: 1880-1980, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn (NY), April 20 - July 18, 1982, cat. no. 136 The Long Island Collections. The gilded age to the 1990s Nassau County Museum of Art, Rosllyn (NY) April 29 - September 12, 1993 (with a label on the plexiglass covering on rear), cat. no. 62
From the artist's estate. Jean K.Benjamin and Robert S. Benjamin Collection, New York (until 2007). From the estate of the above (until 2013: Christie's). Private collection (since 2013, Christie's)
After a long period of traveling, the artist settled in Munich and Murnau for good in 1931. In the early days of her time in Murnau, Gabriele Münter devised a new style of painting based on her previous work, deliberately leaving more and more traces of the local folk art in her works. Münter had long been interested in reverse glass paintings in particular, its simple forms would now add a new character to her painting style. The surrounding landscape and the domestic ambience provided her with themes, among which the floral still lifes occupy a special position. As far as flower still lifes are concerned, there are only two German painters who occupied a significant position in modern art of the first half of the 20th century: Emil Nolde and Gabriele Münter. While Nolde sought to heighten the glowing exhilaration of flowers through intense color effects, Münter took a different approach. She was fascinated with the formal beauty of flowers, which she captured with simple painterly means. The artist did not allow her flowers to blossom into exotic creatures; on the contrary, she reduced their spectacular value to a simplicity of expression that was solely based on form and color. Exhibitions and provenance The first exhibition of this painting can be traced back to 1937. A label refers to an exhibition at Galerie Valentien in Stuttgart, where 37 of Münter's works were exhibited. These works were originally intended for a joint exhibition with Paul Roloff and Hans Reinhold Lichtenberger at the Kunstverein Munich (March 19 - April 4, 1937). Even before it opened, it was prohibited by the Gauleiter. Galerie Valentien then took over the 37 works that had been planned for the exhibition and showed them together with works by August Macke and Oskar Schlemmer at its premises in Stuttgart. It can be assumed that the works were still in the artist's possession at the time. Further exhibitions can be traced back to London in 1960 and the important first retrospective at the Lenbachhaus in Munich in 1962. This context presumably also explains the transfer to an American collection: The painting was in the possession of Jean K. Benjamin for many years. Together with Hans K. Roethel, she compiled the catalogue raisonné of Vasily Kandinsky's oil paintings. Hans Roethel, who was director of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich from 1956-71, was able to announce the donation of Gabriele Münter's estate to the museum in 1957. This donation laid the foundation for its magnificent collection of Blue Rider works.
In good condition. Isolated rubbings caused by the framing. A minor retouch spot in the center of the upper edge of the tray and tiny retouched spots in the lower dark brown area are visible under ultraviolet light. Apart from that, the paint application is homogeneous and well structured by the brushstroke. The condition report was compiled in daylight and with the help of an ultraviolet light source to the best of our knowledge and belief.
Lot Details
Oil on cardboard. Signed and dated lower right. Signed, titled and inscribed with the work number "110/34" on the reverse, there also with a label with the stamped number "449". 41 x 33 cm. [EH]. - A wonderful work from the group of flower still lifes from Gabriele Münter's late work. - With bold colors, strong contrasts and a clearly defined background, Gabriele Münter creates a still life characterized by a strong allure. - Exhibited at the first Gabriele Münter retrospective at the Lenbachhaus in Munich in 1962 and later several times in the USA. - The artist's works featured in the first documenta in Kassel as early as 1955. LITERATURE: Christie's. London, Impressionist / Modern day Sale, February 7. 2013, lot 449.
Galerie Valentin, Stuttgart, 1937, cat. no. 32 (with a label on the reverse). Gabriele Münter. Oil paintings 1903-1937, Marlborough Fine Art Ltd, London, September - October 1960, cat. no. 48 (with a albel on the reverse). Gabriele Münter, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, October 13 - December 2, 1962, cat. no. 103, (illu. in color 24, (here: "Zwei Sträusse vor Blauem Tablett") Gabriele Münter. Between Munich and Murnau, Busch-Reisinger Museum, Harvard, August 11 - September 25, 1980, and Preinceton University, November 22, 1980 - January 22, 1981, cat. no. 63 (with a label on the reverse). The Long Island Collections. A century of art: 1880-1980, Nassau County Museum of Fine Art, Roslyn (NY), April 20 - July 18, 1982, cat. no. 136 The Long Island Collections. The gilded age to the 1990s Nassau County Museum of Art, Rosllyn (NY) April 29 - September 12, 1993 (with a label on the plexiglass covering on rear), cat. no. 62
From the artist's estate. Jean K.Benjamin and Robert S. Benjamin Collection, New York (until 2007). From the estate of the above (until 2013: Christie's). Private collection (since 2013, Christie's)
After a long period of traveling, the artist settled in Munich and Murnau for good in 1931. In the early days of her time in Murnau, Gabriele Münter devised a new style of painting based on her previous work, deliberately leaving more and more traces of the local folk art in her works. Münter had long been interested in reverse glass paintings in particular, its simple forms would now add a new character to her painting style. The surrounding landscape and the domestic ambience provided her with themes, among which the floral still lifes occupy a special position. As far as flower still lifes are concerned, there are only two German painters who occupied a significant position in modern art of the first half of the 20th century: Emil Nolde and Gabriele Münter. While Nolde sought to heighten the glowing exhilaration of flowers through intense color effects, Münter took a different approach. She was fascinated with the formal beauty of flowers, which she captured with simple painterly means. The artist did not allow her flowers to blossom into exotic creatures; on the contrary, she reduced their spectacular value to a simplicity of expression that was solely based on form and color. Exhibitions and provenance The first exhibition of this painting can be traced back to 1937. A label refers to an exhibition at Galerie Valentien in Stuttgart, where 37 of Münter's works were exhibited. These works were originally intended for a joint exhibition with Paul Roloff and Hans Reinhold Lichtenberger at the Kunstverein Munich (March 19 - April 4, 1937). Even before it opened, it was prohibited by the Gauleiter. Galerie Valentien then took over the 37 works that had been planned for the exhibition and showed them together with works by August Macke and Oskar Schlemmer at its premises in Stuttgart. It can be assumed that the works were still in the artist's possession at the time. Further exhibitions can be traced back to London in 1960 and the important first retrospective at the Lenbachhaus in Munich in 1962. This context presumably also explains the transfer to an American collection: The painting was in the possession of Jean K. Benjamin for many years. Together with Hans K. Roethel, she compiled the catalogue raisonné of Vasily Kandinsky's oil paintings. Hans Roethel, who was director of the Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus in Munich from 1956-71, was able to announce the donation of Gabriele Münter's estate to the museum in 1957. This donation laid the foundation for its magnificent collection of Blue Rider works.
In good condition. Isolated rubbings caused by the framing. A minor retouch spot in the center of the upper edge of the tray and tiny retouched spots in the lower dark brown area are visible under ultraviolet light. Apart from that, the paint application is homogeneous and well structured by the brushstroke. The condition report was compiled in daylight and with the help of an ultraviolet light source to the best of our knowledge and belief.
Gabriele Münter 
