Walter Gramatté
1897 - 1929
Selbstportrait. 1921.
Watercolor and India ink.
Lower right signed and dated. On firm wove paper. 49 x 36.8 cm (19.2 x 14.4 in), the full sheet. [AW].

• Self-portraits occupy an important place in Walter Gramatté's oeuvre.
• The experiences of World War I in particular shaped the young artist's personality and gave his art a profound sense of detachment.
• In 2021, the Hamburger Kunsthalle is showing a major retrospective of this long-forgotten representative of magical realism.
• Offered on the international auction market for the first time (source: artprice.com).

PROVENANCE: Dr. Paul Rauert, Hamburg.
Otto Hermann Pauly, Hamburg/Aumühle (verso with collector's stamp L.4830).
Collection of Dr. Ferdinand Eckhardt, Winnipeg (1966).
Galerie Neumann, Berlin (probably from 1975: Hauswedell & Nolte).
Private collection, Berlin (acquired from the above in 1977).

EXHIBITION: Walter Gramatté, The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, 1966, cat. no. 37.
Walter Gramatté, Aquarelle, Handzeichnungen, Druckgraphik, Kunsthalle Bremen, Oct. 4-Nov. 1, 1970, cat. no. 11.

LITERATURE: Ferdinand Eckhardt, Walter Gramatté. Bilder und Aquarelle, Winnipeg/Canada 1981, cat. no. A.83 (b/w illu.).
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Hauswedell & Nolte, auction 206, June 5-7, 1975, lot 544.

In good condition. A few rub marks. The corners and edges of the sheet are slightly worn and have tiny tears. The upper left corner of the sheet has a small loss of paper.