Schmidt-Rottluff, Karl

Description:

Rottluff, 1884 - Berlin, 1976
50 x 35 cm, R.
"Sommerblumen", c. 1955. Colored chalk and ink on Japanese paper. Signed in colored chalk lower right and titled in pencil on the reverse.
The work is registered in the Karl and Emy Schmidt-Rottluff Foundation, Berlin. We thank Ms. Christiane Remm for her kind support.
Villa Grisebach, Berlin, auction no. 146, "Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts", 9 June 2007, lot 266.
Galerie Rudolf, Keitum.
Collection Monika and Horst Bülow, Leonberg, acquired there in 2008.
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff is regarded as one of the most influential artistic figures of the 20th century. As a co-founder of the artist group "Brücke", he developed a radically new visual language from 1905 onwards, which played a decisive role in shaping German Expressionism. His work is marked by an unwavering commitment to colour and expressive line, which he consistently maintained even in his later years.
Created around 1955, "Sommerblumen" is a characteristic example of the creative power of his late period. Using bold coloured chalks in bright tones of red, yellow, green, and violet - contrasted with dark ink lines - Schmidt-Rottluff depicts a bouquet in a simple vase. The strong contours give the forms stability, while the vibrant colours lend the blossoms an immediate presence.
Striking is the expressive simplification of forms: petals, stems, and vase are not rendered naturalistically but transformed into free, almost archaic-looking symbols. It is precisely this reduction to the essential, combined with the powerful use of colour, that creates the emotional intensity so characteristic of Schmidt-Rottluff's work.
The fragile support-fine Japanese paper-enhances the luminosity of the colours and lends the composition a particular transparency. The blossoms appear almost weightless, unfolding against a loosely sketched atmospheric background.
Floral motifs occupy a central position in Schmidt-Rottluff’s oeuvre. As early as the 1920s, he repeatedly turned to floral still lifes, which he understood as concentrated visual meditations. In his late work, to which "Sommerblumen" belongs, these depictions become increasingly free and gestural. They are intended less as realistic representations and more as expressions of inner emotion-a celebration of colour and form in the spirit of Expressionism.
The sheet "Sommerblumen" impressively demonstrates how Schmidt-Rottluff remained true to his artistic principles even in the 1950s, keeping the spirit of Expressionism alive. The combination of strong line, radiant colour, and formal simplification reveals his unmistakable contribution to modern art.