Object number2023.4.3
Dampfer im Sonnenuntergang
Datec. 1930-1935
Artist
Emil Nolde
(German, 1867-1956)
CultureGerman, Danish
MediumWatercolor on Japan paper
DimensionsImage: 13 1/8 x 17 7/8 in. (33.3 x 45.4 cm)
Matted: 21 7/8 x 26 1/4 in. (55.6 x 66.7 cm)
Matted: 21 7/8 x 26 1/4 in. (55.6 x 66.7 cm)
Credit LineBequest of Lynn Gross Straus, class of 1946
Period20th c
Classification(s)
SignedOn recto, signed lower left in pencil: Nolde.
BibliographyDietrich, Dorothea, et al. New York Collects: Drawings and Watercolors, 1900-1950. New York: The Pierpont Morgan Library, 1999, cat. 48
ProvenancePurchased c. 1955 possibly from Stuttgarter Kunstverein by Dr. Konrad Böttcher, Munich; by descent in a private collection;
Christie's London, German and Austrian Art, October 13, 1994, lot 120;
purchased by the donor
Vassar Exhibitions
Exhibition HistoryNew York Collects: Drawings and Watercolors, 1900-1950, The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, NY, May 20 - August 29, 1999Label TextIn Steamer in the Sunset, Emil Nolde applies his wet-on-wet technique with a deep, rich palette resulting in a more opaque watercolor than in Girl with Blonde Hair (on view nearby). As the colors blend, the separation between the sea and sky blurs, evoking the tumultuous and unpredictable nature of the ocean. In this expressive, dramatic seascape, Nolde communicates a personal connection by associating intense colors with vivid emotions. Reflecting on passing the Kattegat Strait connecting the Baltic and North Seas nearly two decades before painting this watercolor, he recalled, “This day has remained so fixed in my memory, that for years afterward all my paintings of the sea consisted of wildly heaving green waves and only a little edge of yellow sky on the upper fringe.”
DescriptionAbstracted, flowing areas of purples, blues and greens with a horizon of red and a half-circle of yellow in the sky. A loose blue form of a ship is visible near the right, center edge.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge.
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