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PROPERTY FROM A PRIVATE GERMAN COLLECTION

1867-1956
KLOSTER UND ÄTNA (MONASTERY AND MOUNT ETNA)

KLOSTER UND ÄTNA (MONASTERY AND MOUNT ETNA)

51.7 by 62cm., 20 3/8 by 24 3/8 in.

Painted in 1905.

signed Emil Nolde and dated 05 (lower right); signed Emil Nolde and inscribed Kloster u. Ätna on the stretcher

oil on canvas

PROVENANCE

Von Rose, Hameln near Bremen (1908)
Luise Wallbrecht, Hameln
Galerie Aenne Abels, Cologne (by 1969)
Galerie Thomas, Munich (by 1973)
Sale: Hauswedell & Nolte, Hamburg, 1980, lot 1001
Purchased at the above sale by the present owner

EXHIBITED

Bremen, Galerie Leuwer, Emil Nolde, 1908
Hanover, Kestner-Gesellschaft. Emil Nolde, 1918, no. 1
Cologne, Galerie Aenne Abels, Jubiläum 1919-1969, 1969, no. 48
Munich, Galerie Thomas, Expressionisten, 1973, no. 31, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

LITERATURE

Artist's Handlist, 1907, no. 58: 'Kloster St. Domenico'
Artist's Handlist, 1910 a,b & c, no. 75
Artist's Handlist, 1930: '1905 Kloster und Ätna'
Martin Urban, Emil Nolde, Catalogue Raisonné of the Oil-Paintings, 1895-1914, London, 1987, vol. I, no. 158, illustrated p. 159

NOTE

Kloster und Ätna, painted in 1905, captures a wonderful, atmospheric view of the Dominican monastery San Domenico near Taormina in Sicily. Taormina perched on a rocky promontory at the foot of the Mount Etna and looking out over the Mediterranean has attracted many regular visitors over the last centuries. In 1904 and 1905, it was Emil and Ada Nolde who spent some time in Italy because of the poor state of health of the artist's wife.

The painter was simply fascinated by the beauty of the landscape of Mount Etna and he painted a whole series of pictures depicting Taormina and the area around this Sicilian town. The present work with its lush colours describing the sunny sky and the beautiful sea is very strongly influenced by the post-impressionist style Nolde admired in those years. Like the Impressionists, Nolde tried to capture the atmosphere, his overwhelming sensation of the view of the Mount Etna in this painting, using strong colours and applying the paint with bold brush-strokes creating the characteristic impasto. Having been used to the light in Denmark and northern Germany, the strong sunshine in Italy undoubtedly had an overwhelming effect on the artist's perception of the Mediterranean. The present work is a stunning celebration of the Sicilian landscape and its heritage. It reflects Nolde's immense impression he must have had when he was admiring the depicted view.

Comp: 413d06008_comp Fig.1, Photograph of the region near Mount Etna, Sicily