Otto Modersohn Lot n° 7

Otto Modersohn Under Birches 1902 Oil on canvas. 78 x 108.5 cm. Framed. Monogrammed and dated '19 OM 02' (O and M joined) in red lower right. Inscribed 'O. Modersohn "Dämmerung im Moor"' verso on upper stretcher bar. - A few tiny pinpoint retouches in the area of the farmhouse. The painting is listed in Otto Modersohn's studio book from 1902 under no. 108-78 on p. 18, where it is titled: "Under Birches". We would like to thank Rainer Noeres, Otto Modersohn Museum, Fischerhude, for kind additional information. Provenance In third generation family ownership Berlin/Bavaria In 1889, Otto Modersohn and Fritz Mackensen found in the village of Worpswede and its surroundings exactly the original, characterful landscape that the artists had been searching for. The extraordinary light conditions and the wide horizon of the Worpswede landscape offered them inexhaustible, natural inspiration. Together with Hans am Ende, they settled here and founded one of the most famous German artists' colonies. "Under Birch Trees" summarizes the characteristics of this special region. The flat landscape stretches out behind the four birch trunks towering in the foreground, their bright bark glowing in the warm evening light. The thatched half-timbered building anchors the scenery in the immediate vicinity of the village, while a child depicted as a back figure turns towards the grazing animals in the middle ground. The crescent moon can already be seen above the small wood on the left edge of the picture, the still pale blue evening sky stands in fresh contrast to the red-brown and dark green colors of the landscape. The atmospheric, peaceful scene that Otto Modersohn captures here speaks of the life of the locals in harmony with the rhythm of nature.