"Expressionist Couple in Yellow-Green Tones: A Dancing Woman on Lake Maggiore"

(1849 Niendorf - 1938 Hagen) Dancing Pair. 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; the angular lines of the brushstrokes correspond to 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's work since he became an exponent of Expressionism in 1906. In the series of works created in 1927/28, to which the presented 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, on the occasion of his 70th birthday, a major special exhibition was held at the National Gallery in Berlin, 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, the day before his death, he was expelled from the Academy of Arts. Tempera on canvas with chalk additions, signed and marked with monogram and date (19)28. Referenced in the catalog raisonné by Vogt and Coke, No. 729. Provenance: German private collection; Auction Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg, 06/05/2013, lot 502; Collection of Professor Dr. Paul Vogt.