Oil on canvas. Signed in the upper left. Signed and titled on the stretcher. 41.2 x 37 cm. . [JS].
• This is one of the rare iconic female portraits of Expressionism. • Mysterious symbol of exotic femininity with a captivating aura. • Rare: part of a small group of intriguing female heads Nolde created in Berlin in 1919. • Among them, “Rotblondes Mädchen” (1919) and “Nadja” (1919) have fetched top prices on the international auction market. • Museum quality: Half of this small, select group of works is in international museum collections today. • Part of the outstanding collection of Berthold and Else Beitz, Essen, for over 50 years. • Painted in the same color palette: “Landschaft mit Seebüllhof” is also offered in this auction and comes from the same private collection. The work is registered in the artist's inventory list under the work number “1930” with the indication “1919 Vera”. LITERATURE: Martin Urban, Emil Nolde. Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, vol. II (1915-1951), Munich 1990, cat. no. 831 (illustrated) - - Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett, 25th auction, Stuttgart 1956, lot no. 703 (illustrated in b/w). Archive material: letter from Herbert de Coster to Emil Nolde, August 10, 1942, archive of the Emil Nolde Foundation, Seebüll. Nolde's “Vera” - Mysterious symbol of exotic femininity The full-length heads Nolde painted in Berlin at the beginning of 1919 are enigmatic, mystical, and sensual. This small but top-class group of works, one of the highlights of Expressionist portrait art, consists of only nine paintings. In the spirit of Expressionism, Nolde was no longer concerned with a naturalistic likeness in the true sense of a portrait. Instead, he focused on capturing his sitters' personalities and the subtle nuances of femininity. This was also the case when, as so often, he explored the theme of " Mann und Weib" ("Man and Woman", 1919, Urban 794) or depicted the relationship between " Fürst und Geliebte" (Prince and his Lover, 1918; Urban 797), while his interest in archaic and sensual themes also resonated. Emil Nolde finally painted these mysterious heads, nine in number, among them "Vera", in early 1919. She faces Nolde head-on. Her bright blue eyes are open; her soft facial features hint at a slight smile. Her mouth is painted a fiery red and slightly open; the artist accentuates her cheeks with a round blush, and her thick black hair falls behind her shoulders, creating a sharp contrast to the midnight blue of the surrounding space. In the immediacy of expression, Nolde painted his subject unfiltered and full of empathy. The person is - one can assume - wearing festive clothes, as Nolde sketched an uncovered, slender neck, just as the sculptor once formed the noble head and flat neck of the Egyptian Nefertiti and adorned the cleavage with a golden necklace with a row of beads of different sizes. Nolde regarded his color palette as his most vital means of expression, as the actual medium of his artistic identity. It is not only the flower paintings that burst with colors, the atmospheric landscapes of mudflats and seascapes, and the charged biblical and mythical scenes. Above all, it is the portraits in which Nolde incorporated his idea of nativeness, as is the case here in the physiognomy's open directness and elementary simplicity. The intense gaze of "Vera" touched the artist as much then as it touches us today. The duality of life is elementary for Nolde, which, in his own words, “always occupied a generous place in my paintings [...]. Together or against one another: man and woman, pleasure and pain, god and the devil" (quoted from: Emil Nolde: Porträts, exhib. cat., Ulm 2005, p. 76). Furthermore, as usual, Emil Nolde wrote the title of his painting directly on the back of the canvas or, usually with a brush dipped in black, on one side of the stretcher. Nolde's “Vera” - Mysterious symbol of exotic femininity The full-length heads Nolde painted in Berlin at the beginning of 1919 are enigmatic, mystical, and sensual. This small but top-class group of works, one of the highlights of Expressionist portrait art, consists of only nine paintings. In the spirit of Expressionism, Nolde was no longer concerned with a naturalistic likeness in the true sense of a portrait. Instead, he focused on capturing his sitters' personalities and the subtle nuances of femininity. This was also the case when, as so often, he explored the theme of " Mann und Weib" ("Man and Woman", 1919, Urban 794) or depicted the relationship between " Fürst und Geliebte" (Prince and his Lover, 1918; Urban 797), while his interest in archaic and sensual themes also resonated. Emil Nolde finally painted these mysterious heads, nine in number, among them "Vera", in early 1919. She faces Nolde head-on. Her bright blue eyes are open; her soft facial features hint at a slight smile. Her mouth is painted a fiery red and slightly open; the artist accentuates her cheeks with a round blush, and her thick black hair falls behind her shoulders, creating a sharp contrast to the midnight blue of the surrounding space. In the immediacy of expression, Nolde painted his subject unfiltered and full of empathy. The person is - one can assume - wearing festive clothes, as Nolde sketched an uncovered, slender neck, just as the sculptor once formed the noble head and flat neck of the Egyptian Nefertiti and adorned the cleavage with a golden necklace with a row of beads of different sizes. Nolde regarded his color palette as his most vital means of expression, as the actual medium of his artistic identity. It is not only the flower paintings that burst with colors, the atmospheric landscapes of mudflats and seascapes, and the charged biblical and mythical scenes. Above all, it is the portraits in which Nolde incorporated his idea of nativeness, as is the case here in the physiognomy's open directness and elementary simplicity. The intense gaze of "Vera" touched the artist as much then as it touches us today. The duality of life is elementary for Nolde, which, in his own words, “always occupied a generous place in my paintings [...]. Together or against one another: man and woman, pleasure and pain, god and the devil" (quoted from: Emil Nolde: Porträts, exhib. cat., Ulm 2005, p. 76). Furthermore, as usual, Emil Nolde wrote the title of his painting directly on the back of the canvas or, usually with a brush dipped in black, on one side of the stretcher. Nolde's “Vera” - a masterpiece of expressionist portraiture Nolde's artistic language is full of subtle sentiment, and his expression is passionately heightened to the point of apparent archaic stylization. The differentiated nature of his subjects and their impressive typification is a particular quality of his painting. Nolde's life between the big city of Berlin and the countryside in the north, his travels in the immediate vicinity, and his South Sea excursion to distant Papua New Guinea provided the artist with inspiring models for his sometimes bizarre physiognomies. Exotic masks and folk art objects, which Nolde discovered and sketched in ethnological collections, also provided crucial inspiration for depictions of the feminine with an exotic air. In the history of modernist portraiture, the stylized exotic element always gains importance when the individual needs additional characteristic elegance. The face of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's model "Fränzi", for example, is painted in bright green and in a similar frontal position, and Max Beckmann lent his "Egyptian Woman" an equally archaic degree of mysterious beauty as did Nolde with his "Vera" and her fascinating space-filling aura. In “Vera”, Emil Nolde thus de-individualizes his subject and immediately breaks with the convention of the portrait in a typically unorthodox way of seeing and painting. Nolde created a personal portrait with all his artistic experience and mastery. His portraits testify to an intensiv
Emil Nolde, Leipzig Art Society, 1921. Emil Nolde, Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, November 20 - December 10, 1921. Emil Nolde, Kunstsalon Ludwig Schames, Frankfurt am Main, 1922. Emil Nolde, Staedtisches Museum, Muelheim a. d. Ruhr, July 1 - 30, 1967, cat. no. 17. Pommersches Landesmuseum, Greifswald (2015-2024, permanent loan)
Paul Ferdinand Schmidt Collection, Dresden (1922). Herbert de Coster Collection, Dresden (1924-1945). Property of the family of the above, Frankfurt am Main (1945-1956: Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett). Wilhelm Großhennig, Düsseldorf (acquired from the above in 1956). Berthold and Else Beitz Collection, Essen ( presumably acquired directly from the above). Family-owned ever since
Nolde and the mysterious identity of the sitters Apart from the note on the stretcher, we have no knowledge of the true identity of the sitter. At least Nolde gave names to the portraits from early 1919: “Nadja” (Urban 830, ill. 3), “Vera” (Urban 831, ill. 2), “Marie” (Urban 832), “Ingeborg” (Urban 835), but also “Italienerin” (Urban 834), “Rothaariges Mädchen” (Urban 836), “Rotblondes Mädchen” (Urban 864, fig. 1) So, who exactly is "Vera"? First, the striking resemblance to "Nadja" is undeniable! Apart from Nolde's list of works from 1930, the basis and starting point for Urban's catalogue raisonné lists both portraits in a row. “Vera” is ‘Nadja’ and ‘Nadja’ is ‘Vera’? Even though Nolde explicitly noted both names on the respective stretcher frames, the identities of both remain uncertain. According to Manfred Reuther, the long-standing director of the Seebüll Ada and Emil Nolde Foundation, this fascinating small group of paintings was created in early 1919 in the Noldes' winter residence, their Berlin studio on Tauentzien. The Noldes probably set off for Denmark in mid-January to visit Ada's family, and they had official permission to stay there until February 20. This trip to Denmark touched the artist and his wife, Ada, as they resumed their visits to the family after a long pause. "Ada's siblings in Kjellerup, Kolding, and Copenhagen had almost become estranged from us in life and thought during the war. The reunion was beautiful. [...] Painting was my better self, I painted again. I painted small pictures of children and the beautiful sisters-in-law and also of the magical powers, the fairy teller”, stated Emil Nolde happily about his artistic deeds (quoted from: Emil Nolde, Mein Leben, Cologne 1993, p. 330). It can be inferred from these lines that “Ada's siblings” may also have inspired Nolde's portraits. Moreover, Ada had nine siblings and a further five half-siblings! Nadja and Vera are not among them.
Condition report on request katalogisierung@kettererkunst.de
Lot Details
Oil on canvas. Signed in the upper left. Signed and titled on the stretcher. 41.2 x 37 cm. . [JS].
• This is one of the rare iconic female portraits of Expressionism. • Mysterious symbol of exotic femininity with a captivating aura. • Rare: part of a small group of intriguing female heads Nolde created in Berlin in 1919. • Among them, “Rotblondes Mädchen” (1919) and “Nadja” (1919) have fetched top prices on the international auction market. • Museum quality: Half of this small, select group of works is in international museum collections today. • Part of the outstanding collection of Berthold and Else Beitz, Essen, for over 50 years. • Painted in the same color palette: “Landschaft mit Seebüllhof” is also offered in this auction and comes from the same private collection. The work is registered in the artist's inventory list under the work number “1930” with the indication “1919 Vera”. LITERATURE: Martin Urban, Emil Nolde. Catalogue Raisonné of Paintings, vol. II (1915-1951), Munich 1990, cat. no. 831 (illustrated) - - Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett, 25th auction, Stuttgart 1956, lot no. 703 (illustrated in b/w). Archive material: letter from Herbert de Coster to Emil Nolde, August 10, 1942, archive of the Emil Nolde Foundation, Seebüll. Nolde's “Vera” - Mysterious symbol of exotic femininity The full-length heads Nolde painted in Berlin at the beginning of 1919 are enigmatic, mystical, and sensual. This small but top-class group of works, one of the highlights of Expressionist portrait art, consists of only nine paintings. In the spirit of Expressionism, Nolde was no longer concerned with a naturalistic likeness in the true sense of a portrait. Instead, he focused on capturing his sitters' personalities and the subtle nuances of femininity. This was also the case when, as so often, he explored the theme of " Mann und Weib" ("Man and Woman", 1919, Urban 794) or depicted the relationship between " Fürst und Geliebte" (Prince and his Lover, 1918; Urban 797), while his interest in archaic and sensual themes also resonated. Emil Nolde finally painted these mysterious heads, nine in number, among them "Vera", in early 1919. She faces Nolde head-on. Her bright blue eyes are open; her soft facial features hint at a slight smile. Her mouth is painted a fiery red and slightly open; the artist accentuates her cheeks with a round blush, and her thick black hair falls behind her shoulders, creating a sharp contrast to the midnight blue of the surrounding space. In the immediacy of expression, Nolde painted his subject unfiltered and full of empathy. The person is - one can assume - wearing festive clothes, as Nolde sketched an uncovered, slender neck, just as the sculptor once formed the noble head and flat neck of the Egyptian Nefertiti and adorned the cleavage with a golden necklace with a row of beads of different sizes. Nolde regarded his color palette as his most vital means of expression, as the actual medium of his artistic identity. It is not only the flower paintings that burst with colors, the atmospheric landscapes of mudflats and seascapes, and the charged biblical and mythical scenes. Above all, it is the portraits in which Nolde incorporated his idea of nativeness, as is the case here in the physiognomy's open directness and elementary simplicity. The intense gaze of "Vera" touched the artist as much then as it touches us today. The duality of life is elementary for Nolde, which, in his own words, “always occupied a generous place in my paintings [...]. Together or against one another: man and woman, pleasure and pain, god and the devil" (quoted from: Emil Nolde: Porträts, exhib. cat., Ulm 2005, p. 76). Furthermore, as usual, Emil Nolde wrote the title of his painting directly on the back of the canvas or, usually with a brush dipped in black, on one side of the stretcher. Nolde's “Vera” - Mysterious symbol of exotic femininity The full-length heads Nolde painted in Berlin at the beginning of 1919 are enigmatic, mystical, and sensual. This small but top-class group of works, one of the highlights of Expressionist portrait art, consists of only nine paintings. In the spirit of Expressionism, Nolde was no longer concerned with a naturalistic likeness in the true sense of a portrait. Instead, he focused on capturing his sitters' personalities and the subtle nuances of femininity. This was also the case when, as so often, he explored the theme of " Mann und Weib" ("Man and Woman", 1919, Urban 794) or depicted the relationship between " Fürst und Geliebte" (Prince and his Lover, 1918; Urban 797), while his interest in archaic and sensual themes also resonated. Emil Nolde finally painted these mysterious heads, nine in number, among them "Vera", in early 1919. She faces Nolde head-on. Her bright blue eyes are open; her soft facial features hint at a slight smile. Her mouth is painted a fiery red and slightly open; the artist accentuates her cheeks with a round blush, and her thick black hair falls behind her shoulders, creating a sharp contrast to the midnight blue of the surrounding space. In the immediacy of expression, Nolde painted his subject unfiltered and full of empathy. The person is - one can assume - wearing festive clothes, as Nolde sketched an uncovered, slender neck, just as the sculptor once formed the noble head and flat neck of the Egyptian Nefertiti and adorned the cleavage with a golden necklace with a row of beads of different sizes. Nolde regarded his color palette as his most vital means of expression, as the actual medium of his artistic identity. It is not only the flower paintings that burst with colors, the atmospheric landscapes of mudflats and seascapes, and the charged biblical and mythical scenes. Above all, it is the portraits in which Nolde incorporated his idea of nativeness, as is the case here in the physiognomy's open directness and elementary simplicity. The intense gaze of "Vera" touched the artist as much then as it touches us today. The duality of life is elementary for Nolde, which, in his own words, “always occupied a generous place in my paintings [...]. Together or against one another: man and woman, pleasure and pain, god and the devil" (quoted from: Emil Nolde: Porträts, exhib. cat., Ulm 2005, p. 76). Furthermore, as usual, Emil Nolde wrote the title of his painting directly on the back of the canvas or, usually with a brush dipped in black, on one side of the stretcher. Nolde's “Vera” - a masterpiece of expressionist portraiture Nolde's artistic language is full of subtle sentiment, and his expression is passionately heightened to the point of apparent archaic stylization. The differentiated nature of his subjects and their impressive typification is a particular quality of his painting. Nolde's life between the big city of Berlin and the countryside in the north, his travels in the immediate vicinity, and his South Sea excursion to distant Papua New Guinea provided the artist with inspiring models for his sometimes bizarre physiognomies. Exotic masks and folk art objects, which Nolde discovered and sketched in ethnological collections, also provided crucial inspiration for depictions of the feminine with an exotic air. In the history of modernist portraiture, the stylized exotic element always gains importance when the individual needs additional characteristic elegance. The face of Ernst Ludwig Kirchner's model "Fränzi", for example, is painted in bright green and in a similar frontal position, and Max Beckmann lent his "Egyptian Woman" an equally archaic degree of mysterious beauty as did Nolde with his "Vera" and her fascinating space-filling aura. In “Vera”, Emil Nolde thus de-individualizes his subject and immediately breaks with the convention of the portrait in a typically unorthodox way of seeing and painting. Nolde created a personal portrait with all his artistic experience and mastery. His portraits testify to an intensiv
Emil Nolde, Leipzig Art Society, 1921. Emil Nolde, Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim, November 20 - December 10, 1921. Emil Nolde, Kunstsalon Ludwig Schames, Frankfurt am Main, 1922. Emil Nolde, Staedtisches Museum, Muelheim a. d. Ruhr, July 1 - 30, 1967, cat. no. 17. Pommersches Landesmuseum, Greifswald (2015-2024, permanent loan)
Paul Ferdinand Schmidt Collection, Dresden (1922). Herbert de Coster Collection, Dresden (1924-1945). Property of the family of the above, Frankfurt am Main (1945-1956: Stuttgarter Kunstkabinett). Wilhelm Großhennig, Düsseldorf (acquired from the above in 1956). Berthold and Else Beitz Collection, Essen ( presumably acquired directly from the above). Family-owned ever since
Nolde and the mysterious identity of the sitters Apart from the note on the stretcher, we have no knowledge of the true identity of the sitter. At least Nolde gave names to the portraits from early 1919: “Nadja” (Urban 830, ill. 3), “Vera” (Urban 831, ill. 2), “Marie” (Urban 832), “Ingeborg” (Urban 835), but also “Italienerin” (Urban 834), “Rothaariges Mädchen” (Urban 836), “Rotblondes Mädchen” (Urban 864, fig. 1) So, who exactly is "Vera"? First, the striking resemblance to "Nadja" is undeniable! Apart from Nolde's list of works from 1930, the basis and starting point for Urban's catalogue raisonné lists both portraits in a row. “Vera” is ‘Nadja’ and ‘Nadja’ is ‘Vera’? Even though Nolde explicitly noted both names on the respective stretcher frames, the identities of both remain uncertain. According to Manfred Reuther, the long-standing director of the Seebüll Ada and Emil Nolde Foundation, this fascinating small group of paintings was created in early 1919 in the Noldes' winter residence, their Berlin studio on Tauentzien. The Noldes probably set off for Denmark in mid-January to visit Ada's family, and they had official permission to stay there until February 20. This trip to Denmark touched the artist and his wife, Ada, as they resumed their visits to the family after a long pause. "Ada's siblings in Kjellerup, Kolding, and Copenhagen had almost become estranged from us in life and thought during the war. The reunion was beautiful. [...] Painting was my better self, I painted again. I painted small pictures of children and the beautiful sisters-in-law and also of the magical powers, the fairy teller”, stated Emil Nolde happily about his artistic deeds (quoted from: Emil Nolde, Mein Leben, Cologne 1993, p. 330). It can be inferred from these lines that “Ada's siblings” may also have inspired Nolde's portraits. Moreover, Ada had nine siblings and a further five half-siblings! Nadja and Vera are not among them.
Condition report on request katalogisierung@kettererkunst.de
Emil Nolde: Schweizer Landschaft 
