THE PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN 
Emil Nolde (1867-1956)

Gotteskoogsee bei Sonnenuntergang

Details
Emil Nolde (1867-1956)
Gotteskoogsee bei Sonnenuntergang
signed 'Nolde' (lower left), titled and dedicated 'Der .Gotteskoogsee, an unsere jungen Freunde, A.u.E.N.'
watercolour on paper, with the Artist's original mount and frame
14 1/8 x 18½in. (35.9 x 47cm.)
Executed circa 1920-25
Provenance
Given by the Artist as a wedding gift to the present owner's parents on 16th July 1938.

Lot Essay

The Gotteskoogsee was an area near the Danish village of 'Nolde' where the Artist was born and which would later inspire him to change his name from Emil Hansen to Emil Nolde. He lived there for twenty years.

The watercolours of his birthplace clearly meant a great deal to Nolde and therefore it is not surprising that he should choose one of these as a wedding gift for his young friends. He even cut the mount himself and selected the frame for the picture.

He recalls these early years in his biography: "Wenn dann in der Marsch die Fennen grünten, zog es uns Knaben unwiderstehlich nach dort hinaus und nach dem Gotteskooggebiet mit seinen kleinen Seen, die einst Arme des Meeres waren. Gelegenheit fand sich hierzu auch alljährlich mehrmals. Wir mussten, sobald wir tüchtig genug waren, das Vieh und die Schafe zur Sommergräsung hintreiben. Tagestouren waren es und sie waren schön." (Emil Nolde, Mein Leben, Cologne, 1976).

Sold with a photo-certificate from Professor Martin Urban of the Nolde-Stiftung, Seebüll, dated Seebüll, 18.6.1996.

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