Theodor Scheerbaum

Wind Dodgers at the Baltic Sea / - The Sensuousness of the Baltic Sea -

1955

Themistokles von Eckenbrecher (1842 Athens - 1921 Goslar), Norwegian pine grove, 1901. Watercolor on blue-green paper, 30 x 22 cm. Signed, dated and inscribed in his own hand "TvE. Fagermes [i.e. Fagermes]. 26.6.[19]01." - Slight crease throughout at left margin, otherwise in good condition. About the artwork Themistokles von Eckenbrecher often traveled to Norway to study the nature that fascinated him there. On June 26, 1901, near the southern Norwegian town of Fagernes, in the summer evening sun, he saw a small pine grove, which he immediately captured in a watercolor. He exposed the trees growing on a small hill in front of the background, so that the pines completely define the picture and combine to form a tense motif. The tension comes from the contrast of form and color. The trunks, growing upward, form a vertical structure that is horizontally penetrated by the spreading branches and the pine needles, which are rendered as a plane. This structural tension is further intensified by the color contrast between the brown-reddish iridescent trunks and branches and the green-toned needlework. Themistokles von Eckenbrecher, however, does not use the observed natural scene as an inspiring model for a dance of color and form that detaches itself from the motif and thus treads the path of abstracting modernism. Its inner vitality is to be brought to light and made aesthetically accessible through the work of art. It is precisely in order to depict the inner vitality of nature that von Eckenbrecher chooses the technique of watercolor, in which the individual details, such as the needles, are not meticulously worked out, but rather a flowing movement is created that unites the contrasts. The trees seem to have formed the twisted trunks out of their own inner strength as they grew, creatingthose tense lineations that the artist has put into the picture. The inner strength continues in the branches and twigs, culminating in the upward growth of the needles. At the same time, the trunks, illuminated by the setting sun, seem to glow from within, adding an almost dramatic dimension to the growing movement. Through the artwork, nature itself is revealed as art. In order to make nature visible as art in the work, von Eckenbrecher exposes the group of trees so that they are bounded from the outside by an all-encompassing contour line and merge into an areal unity that enters into a figure-ground relationship with the blue-greenish watercolor paper. The figure-ground relationship emphasizes the ornamental quality of the natural work of art, which further enforces the artwork character of the group of trees. With the presentation of Themistokles von Eckenbrecher's artistic idea and its realization, it has become clear that the present watercolor is not a study of nature in the sense of a visual note by the artist, which might then be integrated into a larger work context, but a completely independent work of art. This is why von Eckenbrecher signed the watercolor. In addition, it is marked with a place and a date, which confirms that this work of nature presented itself to him in exactly this way at this place at this time. At the same time, the date and place make it clear that the natural work of art has been transferred into the sphere of art and thus removed from the time of the place of nature. About the artist Themistocles' parents instilled a life of travel in their son, who is said to have spoken eleven languages. His father, who was interested in ancient and oriental culture, was a doctor and had married Francesca Magdalena Danelon, an Italian, daughter of the British consul in Trieste. During a stay in Athens - Gustav von Eckenbrecher was a friend of Heinrich von Schliemann and is said to have given him crucial clues as to the location of Troy - Themistokles saw the light of day in 1842. After an interlude in Berlin, where Themistokles was educated at the English-American School, the journey began again. From 1850 to 1857 the family lived in Constantinople, after which the father opened a practice in Potsdam, where Themistokles, who wanted to become a painter, was taught by the court painter Carl Gustav Wegener. In 1861 the von Eckenbrechers left Potsdam and settled in Düsseldorf. There Themistokles received two years of private tuition from Oswald Aschenbach, who greatly admired the talented young artist. After his artistic training, he undertook extensive travels, often accompanied by Prince Peter zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, which took him to northern and eastern Europe, but above all to the Middle East and even to South America. The paintings that resulted from these journeys established his artistic reputation and led to his participation in large panoramas such as the 118 x 15 metre Entry of the Mecca Caravan into Cairo, painted for the City of Hamburg in 1882. 1882 was also the start of a total of 21 study trips to Scandinavia, most of them to Norway, and the unique Norwegian landscape with its rugged fjords became a central motif in his work. Along with Anders Askevold and Adelsteen Normann...

Otto Eglau (1917 Berlin - 1988 Kampen), Wadden spirits, 1982. Aquatint etching, 14.5 cm x 18 cm (plate size), 32 cm x 33.8 cm (frame), signed “Eglau” and dated “[19]82” in pencil lower right, inscribed “Wattgeister” in the center and identified as no. 232 / 250 on the right. Attractively framed. - Three minimal foxing spots in the white margin, otherwise in very good condition - The imagination of the beach - In this puzzle, ghostly faces intertwine with the mudflat landscape, which is interwoven with rivulets of water that enliven the entire sandy surface. Other faces emerge from these faces, creating a puzzle within a puzzle. These ghosts, each with their own character, transform the floor into a turbulent image, and the work also reflects on the art of "looking" into linear structures. About the artist After his release from captivity in 1947, Otto Eglau studied at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin. He was a student of Oskar Nerlinger, Max Kaus and Wolf Hoffmann. From 1953 he taught free drawing for architects at the Technical University of Berlin. In the years that followed, Eglau undertook numerous study trips that took him to Scandinavia, the Arab world, the Far East and even Macau. During these travels he cultivated the technique of watercolour, which allowed him to work quickly in the open air, while retaining a strong painterly quality. Scholarships enabled Eglau to stay in Japan from 1962 to 1963 and in Naples in 1970. From 1969 to 1976 Eglau was professor of etching at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg. Between 1983 and 1988 Eglau worked simultaneously in his Berlin studio at Lietzensee, which had its own printing press, and in his studio in Kampen on the island of Sylt. Otto Eglau's work has been shown in more than 100 solo exhibitions worldwide and in more than 120 group exhibitions. "I love the vastness of the island. The mudflats off Kampen are my treasure trove; here I discover new shapes and colors every day. Without Sylt, I would be like a fish without water." - Otto Eglau Selected Bibliography Hanns Theodor Flemming: Otto Eglau. Das graphische Werk, Flensburg 1966. Heinrich Seemann (Einführung): Otto Eglau. Inselskizzen, Hamburg 1982. Heinrich Seemann (Einführung): Otto Eglau. Japan, Nepal, Sylt. Aquarelle. Zeichen und Strukturen. Einführung von Heinrich Seemann, Hamburg 1986. Otto Eglau: Watt-Tagebuch. Ausgewählte Aquarelle aus den Skizzenbüchern Otto Eglaus. Kampen 1996. GERMAN VERSION Otto Eglau (1917 Berlin - 1988 Kampen), Wattgeister, 1982. Aquatintaradierung, 14,5 cm x 18 cm (Plattengröße), 32 cm x 33,8 cm (Rahmen), unten rechts in Blei mit „Eglau“ signiert und auf „[19]82“ datiert, mittig als „Wattgeister“ bezeichnet und rechts als Nr. 232 / 250 ausgewiesen. Ansprechend gerahmt. - drei minimale Stockflecke im weißen Rand, ansonsten in sehr gutem Zustand - Die Imagination des Strandes - Auf diesem Vexierbild formen sich aus der von Wasserrinnsalen durchflossenen Wattlandschaft ineinander verschlungene Geistergesichter, die die gesamte Sandfläche beleben. Dabei gehen aus den Gesichtern weitere Gesichter hervor, so dass die Gesichter ihrerseits zu Vexierbildern werden. Die Geister, die ganz unterschiedliche Charaktere aufweisen, verwandeln die Standfläche in ein turbulentes Flächenbild, womit das Werk zugleich eine Reflexion auf die Kunst ist, etwas in Liniengefüge ‚hineinzusehen‘. zum Künstler Nach seiner Entlassung aus der Kriegsgefangenschaft 1947 nahm Otto Eglau ein Studium an der Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin auf. Dort war wer Schüler von Oskar Nerlinger, Max Kaus und Wolf Hoffmann. Ab 1953 unterrichtete er freies Zeichnen für Architekten an der Technischen Universität Berlin. In den Folgejahren unternahm Eglau zahlreiche Studienreisen, die ihn nach Skandinavien, in den arabischen Raum, nach Fernost und bis nach Macau führten. Auf diesen Fahrten kultivierte er die Technik des Aquarellierens, die eine zügige Bildschöpfung im Freiraum erlaubt und dennoch eine stark malerische Qualität aufweist. Stipendien ermöglichten es Eglau, sich von 1962 bis 1963 in Japan aufzuhalten und 1970 länger in Neapel zu verweilen. Von 1969 bis 1976 hatte Eglau die Professur für Radierung an der Internationalen Sommerakademie für Bildende Kunst in Salzburg inne. Zwischen 1983 und 1988 war Eglau parallel in seinem Berliner Atelier am...

Charles Edward Brittan Jr (1870 Plymouth - 1949). High moor landscape in the fog. Gouache, signed at lower left "Charles E. Brittan", 18 x 34.5 cm (passepartout), 45 x 62 cm (frame)....

Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller (1855 Amsterdam - 1925 ibid.), Late Summer River Landscape, oil on canvas, relined, 34 x 56 cm (inside measurement), 43 x 64 cm (frame), signed J[an] H[illebrand] Wijsmuller at lower right. - in good condition, the frame with isolated bumped spots - Realistic Impression - About the artwork The panoramic landscape format shows a river landscape, with the course of the river, which curves to the right, leading the eye into the depths of the picture and tempting it to continue the landscape in the imagination beyond the visible area. At the same time, however, the fact that the landscape is not visible through the bend in the river focuses our gaze on the entirety of the landscape depicted, without prompting us to focus on distant details. Accordingly, the brushstroke is not designed to render details with realistic precision. In the front left area of the river there is even a completely free brushwork, trained by Impressionism, which nevertheless remains committed to representational and convincingly suggests the movement of the water. Regardless of the distance of the observer, the entire picture is painted with the same broad brushstroke, so that the landscape is given as an impression. And yet this impression is not ephemeral, as in the case of French Impressionism, to put it exaggeratedly, but reveals to us the essence of the landscape in all its richness. This is why the Dutch variant of Impressionism is always also a realism, although the pictures appear less progressive, but still contain a dimension of landscape painting that is lost with progress. In the impression, the reality of the landscape is revealed, and this happens as we experience the landscape in the visual impression. Wijsmuller does not depict houses or people in order to allow the experience of the landscape to fully unfold. The experience is determined first and foremost by the river, which does not flow into the picture from our point of view, but towards us. Where the river begins to bend, the water is churned by a rapids. Toward us, the riverbed widens and the water comes to rest, covering the entire width of the foreground like a mirror. The stillness of the water corresponds to the evening mood of the late summer landscape, in which the warm tones of the evening light blend with the yellow and brown tones of the plants. A gentle, almost idyllic reality, carried by the brushstroke, yet animated by a liveliness that is also made visible by the brushstroke. The broad, dynamically placed brushstrokes evoke the movement of the treetops and animate even the immobile reeds, while the trunks on the right bank, executed in virtuoso white strokes that seem like markings, make the sunlight shine. On the other bank, a carpet of light also spreads out, its energetic effect again expressed in the brushstroke. The dynamic of the landscape is further enhanced by the complementary color contrasts between the greens, yellows, and browns on the one hand and the blue of the all-encompassing sky on the other. A contrast that is intensified by the reflection in the water. The evening coming to rest of the landscape is thus at the same time an all-encompassing contrasting and yet in itself harmonious movement. This reality becomes accessible to us as an experience in the impression of the landscape. About the artist Jan Hillebrand Wijsmuller entered the Royal Academy of Arts in Amsterdam in 1876 and studied under the innovative Professor August Allebé, who was famous for the Amsterdam Impressionism, also known as the Allebé School. In 1877, Wijsmuller transferred to the Hague Academy of Art, and thus to the Hague School, and then completed his studies at the Brussels Academy of Art. Returning to the Netherlands, Wijsmuller opened his own studio in Amsterdam. In 1883 he won the prestigious Young Artist Award, donated by Willink van Collen, which made Wijsmuller a well-known and sought-after artist. Wijsmuller was a member of the Societät Arti et Amicitiae Amsterdam and the Pulchri Studio in The Hague. Wijsmuller belongs to the second generation of the Hague School. While Vincent van Gogh described the protagonists of the first generation to his brother Theo as "the great gray people," the second generation, and Wijsmuller in particular, used a much more colorful palette. His oeuvre makes him a major player in Dutch Impressionism...

Painted on location in July 2020 at Baltic Sea near Kolberg, Poland :: Painting :: Contemporary :: This piece comes with an official certificate of authenti...

Sailing the Waves Schlichting Waldemar Berlin 1896 – 1970 German Painter Signature: Signed bottom left Dimensions: Image size 61 x 81,50cm, frame size 69,50 x 89,50 cm Medium: Oil ...

Peaceful landscape of sand dunes along a California beach with seagulls drifting overhead in a soft gray-blue sky, by a California artist. Signed "Noland" lower right. Presented in a...

Work on canvas Wooden frame 69 x 77.5 x 5.5 cm