Peter August Böckstiegel
1889 - 1951
Ohne Titel (Dorfstraße mit Bäumen und Häusern). 1939.
Pastel- and ink drawing.
Signed and dated in the lower right. On sturdy Schoeller Progress wove paper (with two blindstamps). 49.7 x 65 cm (19.5 x 25.5 in), the full sheet. [AW].

• A masterfully executed landscape in atmospheric and exceptionally harmoniously composed colors by the most important representative of second-generation Expressionism.
• The work was created in June 1939 in Strasburg, Mecklenburg, where P. A. Böckstiegel was a guest of a local collector and where the landscape inspired him to create pastels of beautiful color.
• Pastel works of this quality and color are extremely rare and are hardly ever offered on the international auction market (source: artprice.com).
• Works by the artist are held in renowned museums, including the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

The work will be included in the catalogue raisonné of pastels currently in preparation under the number “P_6b.” We are grateful to Mr. David Riedel and the Peter August Böckstiegel Museum, Werther (Westphalia), for their kind assistance.

PROVENANCE: The artist’s estate.
Sonja Böckstiegel Collection (daughter of the artist).
Private collection, Germany (from the aforementioned).
In the family’s possession ever since.

“On Sunday we were in the area around Strasbourg, having eaten lunch and dinner outdoors. The mail bus, which only had room for four people, took us there via a long detour—a great ride through the potholed country roads. A stork with its young sits on every large house. The farmhouses are not in the best condition. It’s different in Westphalia, though. But there are picturesque scenes at every turn.”
Letter from P. A. Böckstiegel to his wife, June 19, 1939, Archive of the Peter-August-Böckstiegel Foundation, Werther.
"Early Friday morning, Dr. Schmidt, a doctor, took me to a neighboring village near Strasburg, where I painted four pastels until yesterday evening. I stayed at the inn during those days. Yesterday evening—that is, Sunday—the doctor and his wife picked me up. It rained at first on Sunday morning, but in the afternoon I was still able to go out into the countryside. A picturesque farmstead with tall poplar trees, standing alone in the wide field; I painted three pastels. Then I did a pastel of a field of red poppies. So I was busy from morning until evening."
Letter from P.A. Böckstiegel to his wife, June 26, 1939, Archive of the Peter-August-Böckstiegel Foundation, Werther.

In good condition, with vibrant colors. There is a continuous vertical crease along the right and left edges of the image, with slight discoloration and loss of color in these areas, though this does not detract from the overall beauty of the piece. There is slight wear in places due to the nature of the material. The edges of the sheet are slightly irregular. There are two small mounting residues on the outer upper edge of the sheet.