Magnolia Bud, 1937

Blatt: 326 x 479 mm

Physical Description: Watercolour and wax crayon, partially gone over with brush, on wove paper, perforations in the corners

Inventory Number: 17909

Object Number: 17909 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

Extensive experiments with painting technique contributed to shaping Rohlfs’s oeuvre. In order to achieve certain pictorial effects, he tried out a wide variety of paint mediums and developed different methods of applying and removing them. The ‘Magnolia Bud’ has an accordingly elaborate painting process to thank for its unique hazy effect. The delicate blossom looks as if it has come there on a gentle breeze. It consists of an indistinct blend of quiet yellows and greens, to which Rohlf added a shine here and there with the aid of a fixative. Only very few wide lines of chalk accentuate the forms.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Magnolia Bud

Draughtsman

Christian Rohlfs

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Watercolour and wax crayon, partially gone over with brush, on wove paper, perforations in the corners

Material

Technique

Geographic Reference

German

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Monogrammiert und datiert unten rechts (mit Bleistift?): C R 37

Captions Added Later: Verso nummeriert und betitelt oben links (mit Bleistift): Nr. 46 Magnolienknospe; bezeichnet und betitelt unten rechts: Cr. Rohlfs / Magnolienknospe / 48 x 32; nummeriert mittig links: 961; unten rechts 36 [eingekreist]; darunter: 20

Watermark: entlang der linken Blattkante oben: PMFabriano (1930 [in Kapitälchen]

Property and Acquisition

Work Content

Motifs and References

Iconclass

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: ...

Verst. Frankfurter Kunsthaus L. G. Buchheim – Dr. G. Haase (1. Auktion) an Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt, 22. April 1950 (Los-Nr. 961)

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main, 1977

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: