KOLLER VIEW 2/24

02 pre view. 10 Women in an explosion of colour Preview of the Impressionist &Modern Art auction on 21 June 2024 Gabriele Münter, Paula Modersohn-Becker and Mar- ianne von Werefkin were three strong women who helped to shape German Expressionist painting at the beginning of the 20 th century. Their long-underestimated contribution to the development of an expressive pic- torial language and colour palette capable of capturing the essence of nature in its simplicity and depth has now begun to be recognised through exhibitions and publi- cations. Gabriele Munter and her married lover Wassily Kan- dinsky discovered the picturesque village of Murnau am Staffelsee in Bavaria in 1908. Along with their com- panions and friends, they were enamoured with the enchanting landscape around the ‘Blue Lake’. Münter’s painting ‘House on the lake with blue mountains’ (ill. 2) dates from her second phase in Murnau, after she set- tled down with her new partner Johannes Eichner in 1931. The landscape in clear, reduced forms is animated by the play of strong colours in the evening light. Werefkin’s ‘Romantic landscape with riders’ (ill. 5) is charged with inner tension and dominated by striking colours. The painting was created in the years around the outbreak of the First World War, when Werefkin had fled fromGermany to Lake Geneva with her partner Alex- ej Jawlensky. An important member of the Blauer Reiter group, Werefkin was inspired by the colourful works of Gauguin, the Nabis, van Gogh, Munch and Hodler. The depiction of the riders is a marvellous detail. Whether they are meant to represent Werefkin and Jawlensky themselves or perhaps the apocalyptic horsemen is left to the eye of the beholder. ‘Landscape with three birch trunks’ by Paula Moder- sohn-Becker (ill. 3) is typical of her idiosyncratic pictorial language: with bold brushstrokes and a reduced colour palette, she captures the essence of nature in all its sim- plicity and depth. 1 Emil Nolde (1867–1956). Abendlandschaft am Ruttebüllersee. Circa 1925. Watercolour and ink on Japan paper. 36.5 × 50.4 cm. Estimate: CHF 80 000/120 000 © Nolde Stiftung Seebüll 2 Gabriele Münter (1877–1962). Haus am See mit blauen Bergen. 1933–35. Oil on board. 38 × 40 cm. Estimate: CHF 120 000/180 000 © 2024, ProLitteris, Zurich 3 Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907). Landschaft mit drei Birkenstämmen. 1901. Oil on board. 54.5 × 40.5 cm. Estimate: CHF 40 000/70 000 For further information Impressionist & Modern Art Jara Koller jara.koller@kollerauctions.com Online catalogues www.kollerauctions.com 4 Hermann Max Pechstein (1881–1955). Sommerabend in den Dünen. 1939. Oil on canvas. 78 × 99 cm. Estimate: CHF 120 000/180 000 © Pechstein Hamburg/Toekendorf /2024, ProLitteris, Zurich 5 Detail: Marianne von Werefkin (1860–1938). Romantische Landschaft mit Reitern. Circa 1915. Oil on panel. 62.5 × 73 cm. Estimate: CHF 100 000/150 000 1 2 3 4