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Lot Essay
Kurische Braut I ("Kurish Bride I") is the first of two works on the same subject that Pechstein executed in the summer of 1909 while staying in Nidden - a small fishing village on the coast of the Kurische Nehrung in northern Germany. Pechstein's 1909 holiday in Nidden was the first of many visits to the Baltic coast that the artist made in the years prior the First World War, and as this painting demonstrates, the rural costumes, customs and lifestyle of the local people were a subject of great interest to him. Indeed, over the next few years Pechstein often chose to return to paint in Nidden rather than at Moritzburg with his fellow Brücke artists Kirchner and Heckel.
Although Pechstein is known to have executed two versions of this painting of a young Kurish bride, the second version has since been lost. In Kurische Braut I Pechstein depicts the young Kurish girl in her wedding dress. It is clearly evident from the manner in which the painting has been worked that it is primarily with the intricacies and design of this folkish costume that Pechstein is interested. Like the majority of the Expressionists Pechstein was fascinated with all aspects of folk art and with any manifestation of a culture that differed from the bourgeois norm.
In order to heighten the impact of this young girl's costume, Pechstein has used bold strokes of matching colour for the background. This picks out and dramatises the outline of the girl and her costume and contrasts strongly with the black and white of her shirt, hair and dress. It also emphasises the richness and exuberant intensity of her costume, stressing the rural splendour of the important ritual celebration.
Although Pechstein is known to have executed two versions of this painting of a young Kurish bride, the second version has since been lost. In Kurische Braut I Pechstein depicts the young Kurish girl in her wedding dress. It is clearly evident from the manner in which the painting has been worked that it is primarily with the intricacies and design of this folkish costume that Pechstein is interested. Like the majority of the Expressionists Pechstein was fascinated with all aspects of folk art and with any manifestation of a culture that differed from the bourgeois norm.
In order to heighten the impact of this young girl's costume, Pechstein has used bold strokes of matching colour for the background. This picks out and dramatises the outline of the girl and her costume and contrasts strongly with the black and white of her shirt, hair and dress. It also emphasises the richness and exuberant intensity of her costume, stressing the rural splendour of the important ritual celebration.