Edward Cucuel Lot n° 114

Edward Cucuel After the siesta Around 1910 Oil on canvas. 47 x 61.2 cm. Framed. Signed 'Cucuel.' in black lower left. Signed 'Cucuel' again verso on canvas, signed and titled 'Nach der Siesta Cucuel' on stretcher. - In good, fresh condition. With a confirmation from Bernd Dürr, Munich, dated 24.08.2023. The American painter Edward Cucuel, who initially worked in Paris and later in Munich, worked both on the Ammersee and on Lake Starnberg, where many of his paintings were created. The canvas on offer, "After the Siesta", was probably also painted on the shores of one of the two Bavarian lakes. A young woman has settled down on a blanket in the shade of a tree. Her black and white striped dress contrasts in color and painting technique with the green-blue surroundings, which are only very briefly depicted. The discarded straw hat suggests that she would like to linger longer on the shore. Cucuel's preferred motif, portraits of women in light-flooded landscapes, is realized in a highly effective way in this early painting. He demonstrates a keen sense of composition and painterly effect, which he combines with a brilliant technique that ultimately goes back to Leo Putz. He allows the colors to take on a three-dimensional appearance thanks to the partly painted, partly filled application.