Emil Nolde - DAMPFER UNTER GELBEM HIMMEL (STEAMER UNDER YELLOW SKY)

 

Emil Nolde

1867 - 1956

DAMPFER UNTER GELBEM HIMMEL (STEAMER UNDER YELLOW SKY)

Signed Nolde (lower right)
Watercolor on paper
13 1/8 by 17 5/8 in.
33.4 by 44.7 cm
Executed circa 1946-48 

Widely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s finest watercolorists, Emile Nolde created an extraordinary body of compelling works that demonstrate his mastery of the medium. The artist spent the vast majority of his life in his beloved homeland near the German-Danish border, on the thin strip of land between the North and Baltic Seas. The remote, expansive landscapes of this region, its dramatically broody weather patterns and the abundant floral gardens he so lovingly cultivated were some of his most frequently depicted subjects. He chose watercolor for the intrinsic fluidity of the medium, ideal for his desire to convey a sense of nature’s dynamism. By allowing the imagery to emerge in a natural progression as his brush came in contact with the paper Nolde works in a manner in which color generates form, a true manifestation of Expressionist ideals. Through the strident colors and simplified forms bordering on abstract, Nolde successfully imbues his evocative compositions with a highly charged sense of emotional and spiritual resonance. The shifting depths of luminous color, with the golden yellows and deep reds that appeared so frequently in his work, provide a radiant quality to otherwise distinctly somber tones. 

The following three works exhibit Nolde's unmistakable finesse as it relates to color and form. Having been held in the same private collection for more than 30 years, these previously unseen watercolors speak to the artist's ability to continuously surprise and inspire.