Christian Rohlfs, Das Tier, 1925, Color Woodcut, Provenance: Paul Vogt, Essen

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Christian Rohlfs

1849 Niendorf/Holstein - 1938 Hagen

Das Tier, 1925

Color woodcut on paper

Estate stamp on the verso, with … Read more Christian Rohlfs

1849 Niendorf/Holstein - 1938 Hagen

Das Tier, 1925

Color woodcut on paper

Estate stamp on the verso, with Mrs. Rohlfs' signature

Sheet size: approx. 13.7 x 22.4 cm

Catalogue raisonné Vogt 165, Utermann 231

Good condition

Provenance: Paul Vogt Collection, Private Collection Rhineland

Expertise: Galerie Utermann, Dortmund

Paul Vogt (* May 29, 1926 in Essen-Holsterhausen; † October 1, 2017 in Münster) was a German art historian and university professor.

Prof. Paul Vogt studied art history, archaeology, and prehistory in Göttingen and received his doctorate in philosophy in 1950 under Heinz Rudolf Rosemann (1900–1977) with a dissertation on "The Landscape in 16th-Century Dutch Prints." He served as curator of the Museum Folkwang in Essen from 1954 and, succeeding Heinz Köhn, as director from 1963 to 1988. This position also led to his appointment to the German Poster Museum. In 1977, he was appointed to the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Prof. Paul Vogt was an honorary member of the Folkwang Museum Association and a member of the Ruhr Cultural Foundation since 1984. He was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.

400 of the works in the Rohlfs Collection of the Osthaus Museum were donated by Prof. Dr. Paul Vogt from Essen. Prof. Vogt, former chairman of the Ruhr Cultural Foundation and former director of the Museum Folkwang in Essen, and also the artist's nephew, was the administrator of Christian Rohlfs's estate.

Christian Rohlfs was born on December 20, 1849, the youngest son of a cottager in Niendorf. At the age of 15, he injured his right knee and was forced to spend two years in bed. During this period of illness, Christian Rohlfs began to draw. The poet Theodor Storm, who saw the boy's drawings, sent him to the art critic Ludwig Pietsch in Berlin in 1869. Pietsch gave him a letter of recommendation for the Grand Ducal Academy in Weimar, where Rohlfs studied from 1870 to 1874. Rohlfs received support from the Grand Duke, allowing him to live and work financially secure for many years. In 1871, his leg condition worsened, and in 1873, his right leg was finally amputated.
In 1876, Rohlfs transferred to the Weimar Academy. from 1884, Christian Rohlfs worked as a freelance painter.
In 1901, Rohlfs met Karl Ernst Osthaus through Henry van de Velde. Osthaus appointed him to the planned Folkwang School in Hagen, but the school never came to fruition. In 1903, Rohlfs first saw works by Vincent van Gogh and contemporary French painters at the Folkwang Museum.
The beginnings of Christian Rohlfs's painting style stem from the naturalism of the Weimar School of painting, before a turn to Impressionism became apparent from around 1880. In the 1890s, his paintings became increasingly colorful. Through a Neo-Impressionist phase, Christian Rohlfs arrived at his expressive late style around 1906. His turn to Expressionism likely followed his acquaintance with Emil Nolde, whom Rohlfs met in 1905 during his summer stay in Soest. Christian Rohlfs created his actual work in the following years, already over 50 years old. He painted his most powerful works between the ages of 70 and 80.
In 1907, Christian Rohlfs joined the "Sonderbund Westdeutscher Kunstfreunde und Künstler" (Social League of West German Art Lovers and Artists), led by Karl Ernst Osthaus. In 1911, he became a member of the "Neue Secession" (New Secession), and in 1914, of the "Freie Secession." On his 75th birthday, the city of Hagen honored him by making him an honorary citizen; in the same year, Rohlfs also became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts.
In 1937, Rohlfs was ostracized by the Nazis and banned from exhibiting. 412 of his works were removed from German museums as "degenerate art."
from 1927 to 1937, Christian Rohlfs spent the summer months in Ascona every year. In 1929, the Christian Rohlfs Museum was founded in Hagen in honor of the 80-year-old. Christian Rohlfs died in Hagen on January 8, 1938.

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