Ghiridone im Winter. 1936.
Tempera.
Lower right monogrammed and dated. Dated, titled and inscribed "Nr. 7" on the reverse, presumably by a hand other than that of the artist. On firm structured P. M. Fabriano wove paper (with the watermark). 54 x 77 cm (21.2 x 30.3 in), the full sheet.
In 1927, Christian Rohlfs moved to Ascona in Ticino, Switzerland. His works from these years show the Ticino landscape, such as the Centovalli. In the work offered here, Rohlfs depicted a mountain in the Ticino Alps, the snow-capped Ghiridone or Gridone, the highest peak on the shores of Lake Maggiore. [CH].
• Large-format, particularly atmospheric winter landscape.
• The tempera and watercolor works made after 1930 have a particularly lively expressiveness due to their dynamic, vibrant brushwork.
• In the 1930s, Rohlfs transformed his landscapes from dense color movements into the greatest possible abstraction.
• In addition to the famous floral still lifes, the rare landscape depictions are among the most sought-after works on the international auction market.

PROVENANCE: Private collection Berlin.
Private collection North Rhine-Westphalia.

LITERATURE: Paul Vogt, Christian Rohlfs. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, Recklinghausen 1958, p. 204, cat. no. 1936/27.

"The landscape impression is so striking that you won't forget it. It is astonishing how intensively Rohlfs saw the landscape, and how one – as odd as it may sound – encounter his pictures all over the Ticino."
Paul Vogt, author of the artist's catalogue raisonné, in: Christian Rohlfs. Aquarelle und Zeichnungen, Recklinghausen 1958, p. 101.