Take a look at historical painting by German artist Emile Nolde that has just sold for £37k at Shrewsbury auction
Months of detailed research to authenticate a painting by a famous German artist has paid off for a Shropshire art expert as she secured a £37,350 sale at auction this week.
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Abigail Molenaar, of Halls Fine Art in Shrewsbury, began her quest when the signed watercolour by German-Danish painter and printmaker Emil Nolde (1867-1956) was consigned by a Midlands art collector last spring.
After extensive personal research, Abigail referred the painting to The Nolde Foundation at Seebull in Germany where experts Dr Christian Ring and Dr Astrid Becker confirmed it was indeed by the artist and has been added to the official record of his work.
The ‘Red Blooming Cacti’ watercolour, painted on Japanese long-fibred paper and measuring 47cm by 35.5 cm, was sold to a buyer in Germany for mid-estimate at Halls Fine Art’s modern and contemporary art and design auction on Wednesday (March 19) after competition from two telephone bidders.
Abigail said: “I am really delighted that the research, time and effort spent on the painting has been worthwhile.
“The painting is believed to have been sourced by art dealer Dr Hermann Burg (1878-1946) for the vendor’s family in the early 1940s.
“It had been in a private collection for so long and this was its first ever outing at auction.
"It attracted a lot of interest which shows that good pictures can sell well in the regions.”
A member of Die Brücke (The Bridge), a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905, Nolde was one of the first oil and watercolour painters of the early 20th century to explore colour.
Despite being a staunch supporter of Nazi Germany, Nolde found his modernist paintings condemned by Adolf Hitler as “degenerate art” and 1,052 of his works were removed from museums.
Some were included in the Degenerate Art exhibition organised by the Nazi Party in Munich in 1937, which presented 650 works of art confiscated from German museums.
Despite his protests and a personal appeal to the Nazi Party, Nolde was under strict orders not to paint, even in private, after 1941. However, he created hundreds of watercolours and called them the ‘Unpainted Pictures’.
Other paintings to sell well at the auction included four triptych works by Terry Frost RA (1915-2003), originally from The Soden Collection, which sold above estimate for between £1,000 and £1,480.
“The Frost paintings were very popular and the above estimated prices achieved for them probably relates to their provenance to a reputable gallery,” added Abigail.
“Provenance is proving to be absolutely key in artwork in the current climate, as buyers are unwilling to take a risk.”
Two bronze sculptures of nude women by Marie-Paule Deville-Chabrolle titled ‘La Dolce Vita’ and ‘Ninon’ sold for £3,450 and £2,950, respectively and an Art Deco gilt bronze of a female scarf dancer by Josef Lorenzl (1892-1950) made £1,550.
In the paintings section, an oil on board by John Anthony Park (1880-1962) of The Beachfront, St Ives sold for £2,700 and an oil on canvas by Welsh artist Wynne Jenkins (1937-2019), titled ‘Machlud Ar Pwllfanogl (Cartre Kyffin)' found a buyer at £1,100.
All prices listed include the buyer's premium.
