Lot Essay
Purrmann is amongst the most talented and brilliant followers of Matisse. He had met the great French painter in Paris in 1907, becoming his friend and helping him to run his art school.
By 1955, when the present picture was executed, Purrmann was living in Montagnola in Switzerland, in the house formerly inhabited by Hermann Hesse. He continued to depict the Mediterranean landscapes which he had seen with Matisse, and which had become the paysage de l'âme of the artist, who continued to diffuse, in an extraordinary way, the decorative and luminous style of his mentor.
By 1955, when the present picture was executed, Purrmann was living in Montagnola in Switzerland, in the house formerly inhabited by Hermann Hesse. He continued to depict the Mediterranean landscapes which he had seen with Matisse, and which had become the paysage de l'âme of the artist, who continued to diffuse, in an extraordinary way, the decorative and luminous style of his mentor.