Lot Essay
In May 1903, Nolde and his new wife Ada moved into a tiny fisherman's cottage in the southeastern part of the island of Alsen only a few minutes' walk from the sea. Sommernachmittag may well depict the house and garden, showing as it does a low cottage surrounded by trees. Nolde later recalled the time that he painted this work: "Wie ein Traum waren die Sommermonate mit Malen und im Zusammensein mit Freunden verflogen. Sie hatten abschiednehmend das Bild meiner 'Fischer' mitgenommen, als erstes Werk der Kunst in ihrem jungen Dozentenheim. Das Bild mit 'Ane' den Karren schiebend [the present painting], blieb bei uns und der Blumenstrauch meiner Ada, in die Hecke hineingepflanzt, noch heute auf dem Bilde blht." (E. Nolde, Mein Leben, op.cit.)
Sommernachmittag represents one of Nolde's earliest paintings of a flower garden, and his rapturous response to the natural world is manifest. Nolde always sought inspiration in nature, and in his paintings of flower gardens he discovered the full power of colour as an unrestrained source of expression (compare with lot 144). In terms of style his awareness and appreciation of the likes of Liebermann, Manet and the French Impressionists is apparent, although his harsh Nordic sensibility and natural insularity consistently protected him from becoming simply an imitator of the French masters. Werner Haftmann writes, "He adopted the light palette and the free and easy brushwork of the Impressionists. In doing so he went further than the Impressionists, who subtly calculated their colour effects...Nolde relies on instinct. His contrasts are vehement, passionate; his use of colour is spontaneous. A similar spontaneity charaterizes his brushwork, which is rapid, abrupt, violent ... he learns from the Post-Impressionists how to treat pure colours and how to arrange them over broad, decorative surfaces like Gauguin's." (W. Haftmann, Emil Nolde, New York, p. 20.) In Sommernachmittag nature is Nolde's inspiration but already he transcends it. The pointed colour accents are already present: the unrealistic intensity of the colours, ranging from green to gold, and the sharp contrasts of light and shade between the greenery in the foreground areas and behind. Each pigment is added to the canvas with swift strokes that create a richly textured surface which in itself is quite remarkable.
The painting comes from the prestigious collection of the Bonnichsen family. Nolde's sister, Catharina, was married to Lorenz Bonnichsen and had four children: three girls, and a son. Nolde and Ada would visit them at Stemmild and a number of family portraits were executed by Nolde over the years, among them, Familie (Bonnichsen) (Urban 677) now in the Museum Ludwig in Koln. Two other major Nolde paintings from the Bonnichsen collection have recently been purchased by the Nolde-Siftung, Seebll.
Sommernachmittag represents one of Nolde's earliest paintings of a flower garden, and his rapturous response to the natural world is manifest. Nolde always sought inspiration in nature, and in his paintings of flower gardens he discovered the full power of colour as an unrestrained source of expression (compare with lot 144). In terms of style his awareness and appreciation of the likes of Liebermann, Manet and the French Impressionists is apparent, although his harsh Nordic sensibility and natural insularity consistently protected him from becoming simply an imitator of the French masters. Werner Haftmann writes, "He adopted the light palette and the free and easy brushwork of the Impressionists. In doing so he went further than the Impressionists, who subtly calculated their colour effects...Nolde relies on instinct. His contrasts are vehement, passionate; his use of colour is spontaneous. A similar spontaneity charaterizes his brushwork, which is rapid, abrupt, violent ... he learns from the Post-Impressionists how to treat pure colours and how to arrange them over broad, decorative surfaces like Gauguin's." (W. Haftmann, Emil Nolde, New York, p. 20.) In Sommernachmittag nature is Nolde's inspiration but already he transcends it. The pointed colour accents are already present: the unrealistic intensity of the colours, ranging from green to gold, and the sharp contrasts of light and shade between the greenery in the foreground areas and behind. Each pigment is added to the canvas with swift strokes that create a richly textured surface which in itself is quite remarkable.
The painting comes from the prestigious collection of the Bonnichsen family. Nolde's sister, Catharina, was married to Lorenz Bonnichsen and had four children: three girls, and a son. Nolde and Ada would visit them at Stemmild and a number of family portraits were executed by Nolde over the years, among them, Familie (Bonnichsen) (Urban 677) now in the Museum Ludwig in Koln. Two other major Nolde paintings from the Bonnichsen collection have recently been purchased by the Nolde-Siftung, Seebll.