"Expressionist couple in yellow-green tones: a dancing woman on Lake Maggiore"

(1849 Niendorf - 1938 Hagen) Dancing Couple. Expressionist, painted in dominant yellow and green tones, created in 1928, a late work by Christian Rohlfs (1927-1938) on Lake Maggiore. The woman, facing the viewer, is depicted nude, with angular brushstrokes matching the ecstatic expression of a wild dance. The painting was created a year after Rohlfs spent a holiday on Lake Maggiore in 1927 and moved to Ticino, Switzerland. In the last decades of his life, Rohlfs managed to further refine his means of expression, so that his late works can be considered the culmination of his artistic career. He mainly painted flowers, landscapes, and city views with great intensity of color. The theme of dance permeates Rohlfs' work since he became a proponent of Expressionism in 1906. In the series of works created in 1927/28, to which this tempera belongs, he continued his early works with dance motifs from 1908 to 1913. They reflect his indomitable, undying joy of life even in old age. In the Weimar Republic, Rohlfs was a highly respected artist. In 1919, a major special exhibition was held at the National Gallery in Berlin in honor of his 70th birthday, and in 1924 he was honored with membership in the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. In the Third Reich, Rohlfs was also one of the modern artists condemned by the National Socialists as "degenerate." Over 400 works were confiscated from German museums in 1937, he was banned from exhibitions, and on January 7, 1938, a day before his death, he was expelled from the Academy of Arts. Tempera with chalk highlights on canvas, signed and marked with monogram and date (19)28. Listed in the catalog raisonné by Vogt and Coeke, No. 729. Provenance: German private collection; Auction Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg, 05.06.2013, lot 502; Collection of Professor Dr. Paul Vogt.