"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 pervades Rohlfs’ work ever since he became an exponent of Expressionism in 1906. In a 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, undiminished 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, the day before his death, he was expelled from the Academy of Arts. Tempera with chalk overlays on canvas, signed and marked with monogram and date (19)28. Mentioned in the catalog raisonné by Vogt and Kokke, No. 729. Provenance: German private collection; Auction Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg, 06/05/2013, lot 502; Collection of Professor Dr. Paul Vogt.