FRANZ RADZIWILL (1895-1983)
FRANZ RADZIWILL (1895-1983)
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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE GERMAN COLLECTION
FRANZ RADZIWILL (1895-1983)

Hochwasser (das Wasser steigt)

Details
FRANZ RADZIWILL (1895-1983)
Hochwasser (das Wasser steigt)
signed 'Franz Radziwill' (lower right); numbered '504' (on the reverse)
oil on canvas laid down on panel
35 5⁄8 x 47 ½ in. (90 x 120 cm.)
Painted in 1957
Provenance
Galleria del Levante, Milan & Munich, by January 1969.
Private collection, Rome, by 1982.
Anonymous sale, Grisebach, Berlin, 24 November 1995, lot 72.
Literature
The artist's handlist, no. 4⁄504.
A. Firmenich & R. W. Schulze, Franz Radziwill, 1895 bis 1983, Monographie und Werkverzeichnis, Cologne, 1995, no. 709, p. 435 (illustrated).
Exhibited
Oldenburg, Stadtmuseum, Franz Radziwill 65 Jahre, February 1960, no. 504, p. 31; this exhibition later travelled to Goslar, Museum, June - July 1960.
Hamburg, Völkerkundemuseum, Franz Radziwill, April - May 1961.
Gelsenkirchen, Kunstmuseum, Franz Radziwill, Gemälde, Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, July - October 1961, no. 55.
Cologne, Galerie Baukunst, Retrospektiv-Ausstellung Franz Radziwill, Ölgemälde, Aquarelle, September - November 1968, no. 100.
Milan, Galleria del Levante, Franz Radziwill, January - February 1969, no. 10 (illustrated).
Rome, Galleria il fante di spade, Franz Radziwill, October 1969, no. 29; this exhibition later travelled to Modena, Galleria La Mutina, November 1969.
Genoa, Galleria d'Arte San Marco dei Giustiniani, Franz Radziwill, January 1976 (illustrated).
Berlin, Staatliche Kunsthalle, Franz Radziwill, November 1981 - January 1982, no. 197, p. 237 (illustrated p. 167; titled 'Das Wasser steigt (Überschwemmung)'); this exhibition later travelled to Oldenburg, Landesmuseum, January - February 1982 and Hanover, Kunstverein, February - April 1982.

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Lot Essay

Originally trained as a bricklayer, Franz Radziwill later taught himself the refined techniques of Renaissance oil painting, developing a style marked by meticulous precision, particularly in his renderings of architecture and landscape. His paintings often reward close observation, revealing subtle details such as unexpected fields of colour or ornamental patterns that emerge only upon second glance. Radziwill frequently contrasted colourful landscapes with vast, ominous dark skies on the verge of a storm, imbuing his scenes with surreal elements. As a pioneering figure of Neue Sachlichkeit, Radziwill became renowned for known for his unique ability to evoke eerie, often tense atmospheres through the integration of Magical Realist elements. Nonetheless, these mature works continue to bear traces from his earlier Expressionist oeuvre, as can be seen through his the bold colours and shapes found within them.

Settling by the North Sea in the German low lands, natural events such the foreboding of advancing heavy storms and spring tides were a common phenomenon that fascinated the artist deeply. He developed a strong sense of the fragility of human kind in the face of natural forces. He had also seen and been part of the utter destruction that humans caused to humanity and all its creations in both world wars. His life-long fascination with technical achievements such as machines, ocean liners or planes was always coupled with the fear of their destructive potential. Increasingly, this included humanity’s relationship with the natural world and the cosmos. In his paintings, he often contrasted nature and technical machines and criticized the race for the orbit as an intrusion into the devine sphere of heaven.

Radziwill painted Hochwasser (Das Wasser steigt) in 1957. It shows the outskirts of a larger town, submerged in water. The title suggest that the water is still rising. It shows a catastrophe for all life which needs rescue from the sky in the shape of a helicopter and an angel. The heavens have literately opened up and let the waters come down. The central surreal element in the dominating sky suggests that there that disaster at hand is almost supernatural in its nature. While the artist had seen many high tides, they were nowhere near the concerningly high levels depicted in the painting. However, such a disaster would come to pass only a few years later. In 1962, the Northern town of Hamburg was hit by one of the most catastrophic floods in German history, devastating the homes of 60,000 inhabitants, killing over 300 and many more across Northern Europe. This painting has thus become an visionary warning which is becoming ever more relevant. The artist became a strong advocate for nature conservation or the rest of his life.

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