Mending Nets
Max Liebermann (Berlin 1847 - Berlin 1935)
Lot-No. 263
Proceeds : 214.500 €
Liebermann created this motif of the net mending woman as early as 1887 as a study, already largely worked through pictorially, for his large-format main work of 1889, which today is one of the special attractions of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The painting was created in the Dutch fishing village of Katwijk. The life of its inhabitants, perceived as pristine, attracted many artists at the end of the 19th century who were concerned to make the lives of ordinary people a subject worthy of depiction; Liebermann is probably the most important among them. The impression of vastness and lack of dimension of the Kunsthalle picture is already worked out in the painting offered here, yes, actually reinforced by the summary indication of landscape and sky. In gray dress and white hood a woman sits on the lawn and mends a fishing net. The hands, which are difficult to depict, grasping the net, which is only hinted at in this picture, are precisely observed and well realized in terms of painting. The whole posture of the worker shows experience and immersion. Liebermann will contrast the fisherwoman, whose age is not further characterized here, with the standing young woman as the main figure in the picture in the Hamburg Kunsthalle. Matthias Eberle emphasizes in his expert opinion the contrast between the older woman who is absorbed in her work and the younger woman who holds the net in her hands but looks dreamily into the distance. The study offered here of one of Liebermann's most important works has an unusually well-documented and in part prominent provenance, which is also an expression of the esteem in which the painting was held from the beginning. It probably came into the possession of the ophthalmologist Max Linde in Lübeck as early as the mid-1890s, who was one of the outstanding collectors of avant-garde art at the time; he was an important patron of Edvard Munch, and early works by Rodin and Manet were in his possession. Paul Cassirer in Berlin, a leading dealer in contemporary art throughout Europe, was able to acquire Liebermann's painting in 1917 and, because of its importance, resold it after a few days. After many years in the collection of an important entrepreneur in the USA, the painting has now returned to Germany and is located in Hamburg in the immediate vicinity of the main work in the Kunsthalle. 1887. Oil/cardboard. 59 x 79 cm. Lo. ri. sign. M. Liebermann Katwyk. Small lesions to the margins, inconspicuous creases. - Expertise: Manfred Eberle, Berlin 3.6.1998, confirms the authenticity. - Literature: Cat. rais.: Eberle 1887/4. The painting is published with ill. in: M. Friedländer: Max Liebermannn, 1924, pp. 80 und 208; E. Hancke: Max Liebermann, 1923, pp. 218 und 534. - Provenance: Max Linde, Lübeck, c. 1896 to at least 1904; Major Augstein, Metz, 1914; sold to Paul Cassirer 1917; acquired there by Ernst Jacobi, Berlin, Dec. 20, 1917; acquired there by Ernst Jacobi, Berlin, Dec. 20, 1917; repository Neuwied; repository Kögl, Austria, 19.3.1946; thereafter to the Munich Central Collecting Point; 29.05.1949 handed over to the JCR; on commission of the JCR sold by Henry F. Odell in New York to Elly Beckardt 25.06.1950; acquired by Erich Hechler (founder of Hecher hearing aids, Inc., New York); his sister-in-law brought the painting to Germany between 1955 and 1965; thence by descent to the consignor. - One of the most important exponent of German impressionism. L. studied at the Berlin academy under C. Steffeck and at the Weimar academy under F. Pauwels. Since 1897 he was professor at the Berlin academy. He was also co-founder of the Berlin secession in 1898 and its president. Mus.: Hamburg (53 paintings in the Hamburger Kunsthalle), München, Hannover, Köln, New York a. others. Lit.: Thieme-Becker, Bénézit, Vollmer, Schiefler: M.L. - Sein graphisches Werk 1876-1923, Eberle: M.L. - Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und Ölstudien a. others.
Max Liebermann: Mending Nets
Max Liebermann (Berlin 1847 - Berlin 1935)
Mending Nets
Lot-No. 263
Proceeds : 214.500 €
Liebermann created this motif of the net mending woman as early as 1887 as a study, already largely worked through pictorially, for his large-format main work of 1889, which today is one of the special attractions of the Hamburger Kunsthalle. The painting was created in the Dutch fishing village of Katwijk. The life of its inhabitants, perceived as pristine, attracted many artists at the end of the 19th century who were concerned to make the lives of ordinary people a subject worthy of depiction; Liebermann is probably the most important among them. The impression of vastness and lack of dimension of the Kunsthalle picture is already worked out in the painting offered here, yes, actually reinforced by the summary indication of landscape and sky. In gray dress and white hood a woman sits on the lawn and mends a fishing net. The hands, which are difficult to depict, grasping the net, which is only hinted at in this picture, are precisely observed and well realized in terms of painting. The whole posture of the worker shows experience and immersion. Liebermann will contrast the fisherwoman, whose age is not further characterized here, with the standing young woman as the main figure in the picture in the Hamburg Kunsthalle. Matthias Eberle emphasizes in his expert opinion the contrast between the older woman who is absorbed in her work and the younger woman who holds the net in her hands but looks dreamily into the distance. The study offered here of one of Liebermann's most important works has an unusually well-documented and in part prominent provenance, which is also an expression of the esteem in which the painting was held from the beginning. It probably came into the possession of the ophthalmologist Max Linde in Lübeck as early as the mid-1890s, who was one of the outstanding collectors of avant-garde art at the time; he was an important patron of Edvard Munch, and early works by Rodin and Manet were in his possession. Paul Cassirer in Berlin, a leading dealer in contemporary art throughout Europe, was able to acquire Liebermann's painting in 1917 and, because of its importance, resold it after a few days. After many years in the collection of an important entrepreneur in the USA, the painting has now returned to Germany and is located in Hamburg in the immediate vicinity of the main work in the Kunsthalle. 1887. Oil/cardboard. 59 x 79 cm. Lo. ri. sign. M. Liebermann Katwyk. Small lesions to the margins, inconspicuous creases. - Expertise: Manfred Eberle, Berlin 3.6.1998, confirms the authenticity. - Literature: Cat. rais.: Eberle 1887/4. The painting is published with ill. in: M. Friedländer: Max Liebermannn, 1924, pp. 80 und 208; E. Hancke: Max Liebermann, 1923, pp. 218 und 534. - Provenance: Max Linde, Lübeck, c. 1896 to at least 1904; Major Augstein, Metz, 1914; sold to Paul Cassirer 1917; acquired there by Ernst Jacobi, Berlin, Dec. 20, 1917; acquired there by Ernst Jacobi, Berlin, Dec. 20, 1917; repository Neuwied; repository Kögl, Austria, 19.3.1946; thereafter to the Munich Central Collecting Point; 29.05.1949 handed over to the JCR; on commission of the JCR sold by Henry F. Odell in New York to Elly Beckardt 25.06.1950; acquired by Erich Hechler (founder of Hecher hearing aids, Inc., New York); his sister-in-law brought the painting to Germany between 1955 and 1965; thence by descent to the consignor. - One of the most important exponent of German impressionism. L. studied at the Berlin academy under C. Steffeck and at the Weimar academy under F. Pauwels. Since 1897 he was professor at the Berlin academy. He was also co-founder of the Berlin secession in 1898 and its president. Mus.: Hamburg (53 paintings in the Hamburger Kunsthalle), München, Hannover, Köln, New York a. others. Lit.: Thieme-Becker, Bénézit, Vollmer, Schiefler: M.L. - Sein graphisches Werk 1876-1923, Eberle: M.L. - Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und Ölstudien a. others.
