Lot 1204 | Ducks at the Brünnele

KOESTER, ALEXANDER MAX
1864 Bergneustadt - 1932 Munich


Title: Ducks at the Brünnele.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Measurement: 46 x 76,5cm.
Notation: Signed lower right: A. Koester.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.
Literature:
R. Stein: Alexander Koester 1864-1932: Leben und Werk. Recklinghausen 1988, cat. rais. no. 671. Here with the note: unsigned.

Provenance:
Galerie Keul, Wiesbaden;
Private ownership, Germany.

Originally from the Rhineland, Alexander Koester only found his way to painting after an apprenticeship as a pharmacist in Colmar, Alsace. 1885 he studied at the academy of arts in Karlsruhe, whose influence can be seen in his late impressionistic works of art. He earned his living by commissions for portraits, but first he was interested in landscape painting.
Only after he moved to Klausen in South Tyrol to live with his wife's family he became more and more interested in his lifelong main subject: the depiction of ducks. He found his motif directly on his father-in-law's property; in countless studies the animals are captured in the most varied situations. The painter first appeared in public at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition in 1899, and the ducks on display immediately attracted attention, so that at the turn of the century Koester became a recognised artist and received high awards.
From 1908 Koester travelled more and more to the Lake Constance area to paint large wide water areas in calm or stormy weather, sun and shade in addition to the ducks. After Klausen was declared a war zone during the First World War, the artist moved to Munich and settled in Dießen am Ammersee. From then on, he devoted himself to the depiction of seaside landscapes and still lifes with flowers, but the subject of ducks continued to play an important role in his artistic work until his death. Last but not least the painter is known under the name "Duck-Koester".
Apart from the anatomically correct depiction of the animals, Koester is particularly interested in the iridescent incidence of light on the water. Recurring and characteristic is therefore the reproduction of the iridescent play of light, which falls harmoniously on the water and the duck's plumage.