Lot 736 | Alexander Max Koester | Spring Lanscape near Brixen

KOESTER, ALEXANDER MAX
1864 Bergneustadt - 1932 Munich

Title: Spring Lanscape near Brixen.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Laid on fibreboard.
Measurement: 54.5 x 81.5cm.
Notation: Signed lower right: A. Koester.
Frame/Pedestal: Framed.
Verso:
On the fibreboard confirmation of authenticity of the Merano Art Association from 1956.

Literature:
R. Stein / H. Koester: Alexander Koester. Leben und Werk, Recklinghausen 1988, cat. rais. no. 172.

Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

"Landschaften hatte er schon immer gemalt, aber jetzt beschäftigte er sich mit Dingen, die sonst wenig attraktiv erschienen und kaum als Sujet für ein Gemälde in Betracht kamen. Unscheinbares der Natur zog ihn an." (literally translated: He had always painted landscapes, but now he was preoccupied with things that otherwise seemed less attractive and could hardly be considered as subjects for a painting. He was attracted by the inconspicuous in nature.) (Köster, Hans: Alexander Köster - Sein Lebensweg, in: R. Stein und H. Köster. Alexander Koester 1864-1932. Leben und Werk. Recklinghausen 1988, p. 16).
The fascination of nature that is described by the artist's author and nephew can be found in the painting: The landscape, that Köster shows here, gains depth by means of delicate trees that frame the painting on the left and right. Köster directs the gaze towards the centre of the painting by means of skilful positioning and composition and thus generates the illusion of infinite vastness. The sky, that dominates three quarters of the painting, is characterised by different pastel nuances.
The impasto clouds refract the sunlight shining through and transform the painting into a romanticised idyll - a reflection, as it were, of the striving for the "lost paradise".