Emil Nolde, German, 1867-1956
Title: Women in the Garden
Date: 1915
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
73 x 88 cm
Signed: on verso (on stretcher): Emil Nolde 'Frauen im Garten'
Credit Line: Purchased, 1984 (Shaw Fund)
Object Number: NGI.4490
DescriptionA painter and printmaker, Emil Nolde was one of the principal exponents of Expressionism. He was a member of the Dresden-based Die Brücke group from 1906-07. In 1913 he accompanied a scientific expedition that travelled through Russia to Japan and the South Seas. His ambition was to study, at first hand, the ‘primitive’ art that he greatly admired in the Berlin Ethnographic Museum. Although brought to an end by the outbreak of the First World War, the voyage marked a turning point in Nolde’s career. He turned away from urban subject matter, preferring instead to concentrate on nature and rural contexts.
Nolde spent most of 1915 in his cottage on the Island of Alsen, where he produced almost 90 works; this painting is one of a number set in his garden there. Painted in a dense impasto, it depicts two women conversing amongst colourful flowers. Nolde’s wife Ada modelled for the figure standing on the path at the right. In 1926, the Städel, Frankfurt, acquired Two Women in a Garden. However, in 1937, it was one of 77 paintings confiscated from the museum by the Nazi regime, which classified the work of Nolde and other German Expressionists as Entartete Kunst (degenerate art).
March 2016
Nolde spent most of 1915 in his cottage on the Island of Alsen, where he produced almost 90 works; this painting is one of a number set in his garden there. Painted in a dense impasto, it depicts two women conversing amongst colourful flowers. Nolde’s wife Ada modelled for the figure standing on the path at the right. In 1926, the Städel, Frankfurt, acquired Two Women in a Garden. However, in 1937, it was one of 77 paintings confiscated from the museum by the Nazi regime, which classified the work of Nolde and other German Expressionists as Entartete Kunst (degenerate art).
March 2016
ProvenanceLuders, Hamburg; Kowarzik collection; Stadelsches Kunstinstitut/Stadtische Galerie, 1926; confiscated by the German government as 'Entartete Kunst', 1937/38; sold, 1938; Private Collection, Munich; Roman Norbert Ketterer, Campione d'Italia near Lugano, 1967; Private Collection, Brazil; purchased, Sotheby's, London, 26 June 1984, Impressionist and Modern Paintings and Sculpture sale, part 1, lot 36
Exhibition HistoryEmil Nolde, Kunstsalon Ludwig Schames, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1917
Emil Nolde, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, 1918
Emil Nolde, Kunstsalon Ludwig Schames, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1918
Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Ireland, National Gallery, London, 1985
Acquisitions 1984-86, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 25 September - 2 November 1986
Emil Nolde, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hannover, 1918
Emil Nolde, Kunstsalon Ludwig Schames, Frankfurt-am-Main, 1918
Masterpieces from the National Gallery of Ireland, National Gallery, London, 1985
Acquisitions 1984-86, National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, 25 September - 2 November 1986
Label TextEmil Nolde spent most of 1915 at his cottage on the island of Alsen. It was there that he painted this brilliantly coloured garden scene. Executed in a dense impasto, it depicts two women standing amongst flowers. The artist’s wife, Ada, modelled for the figure standing on the path at the right. In 1926, the Städel, Frankfurt, acquired this painting for its collection. However, in 1937, it was one of many artworks confiscated from the museum by the Nazi regime, which classified the work of Nolde, and other German Expressionists, as ‘Entartete Kunst’ (Degenerate Art).
