Christian Rohlfs
1849 - 1938
Männlicher Rückenakt. 1909.
Watercolor.
Lower left monogrammed and dated "9". On wove paper. 64.9 x 50 cm (25.5 x 19.6 in), size of sheet. [CH].


• Expressive male nude from a period when Rohlfs attained a unique style influenced by both Impressionism and Expressionism.
• Although his academic training is still clearly evident in his nude drawings, the bold brushstrokes already demonstrate his break with the tradition of Naturalism.
• The nude figure from behind plays a significant role in the artist's paintings.

PROVENANCE: Estate of the artist.
Galerie Jörg Schumacher, Frankfurt am Main.
Private collection, South Germany (acquired from the above in 2014).
In family ownership ever since.

LITERATURE: Paul Vogt, Christian Rohlfs 1849-1938, Aquarelle, Wassertemperablätter, Zeichnungen,
Recklinghausen 1988, p. 145 (with full-page illustration, p. 26).
Paul Vogt, Christian Rohlfs. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, Recklingshausen 1958, catalogue raisonné no. 09/14.
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Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, Modern Art, May 31, 2011, lot 445 (illustrated).

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