Tulips

(1895 Strohhausen – 1983 Wilhelmshaven) Tulips. A very early still life by Radziwill featuring two long-stemmed tulips against a neutral background, created in 1924 shortly after his transition to New Objectivity or Magic Realism, following his permanent move to Dangast in 1923. In 1924, Radziwill participated in a juryless exhibition in Berlin with a special display of 17 of his own paintings, alongside works by Giorgio de Chirico, Paul Klee, Oskar Schlemmer, Otto Dix, and Wassily Kandinsky. In 1925, Radziwill held his first solo exhibition in Oldenburg, featuring 60 works. Later, he repeatedly returned to the tulip motif in several larger still lifes, such as “Three Tulips” (1934/1935, Wvz. 411), “Red Tulip” (1942, Wvz. 517), “Two Tulips” (1943, Wvz. 521), as well as in similarly elongated vertical depictions of flower stems, for example “Tulips on Black and White Background” (1946, Wvz. 562) and “White Tulip” (1952, Wvz. 664). Watercolor and gouache on paper. Signed and monogrammed “Fr. R.” on the reverse, with work number 201 and the date “1924” [sic].

Stamp “Franz Radziwill (/) Nordseebad Dangast b. Varel i. O.” and another round, illegible stamp. 27.3 cm x 17 cm. Framed. Literature: Catalog “Franz Radziwill – Painting, Watercolors, Drawings”, Kunsthalle Bremen 1970/71, No. 110; Catalog “Franz Radziwill”, Kunstverein Hannover 1971, p. 62; Wilfried Sieb: “Catalog of Watercolors, Drawings, and Painted Postcards”, Published by the Franz Radziwill Society, Oldenburg 2006, work number 2809 (which gives the date as 1928). Provenance: North German private collection, Oldenburg i. O.