Spring

Provenance

Acquired from the artist, who was the great uncle of the current owner.

Notes

Otto Modersohn was a German landscape painter and a founding member of the Worpswede artist colony near Bremen, which he established with Fritz Mackensen in the late 19th century. Drawn to the quiet beauty of the surrounding moorlands, the artists of Worpswede found inspiration in nature, rural life, and the changing seasons. Their work took cues from the Barbizon School in France, embracing plein air painting and a direct engagement with the landscape as a means of emotional expression.

Modersohn received formal training at the Art Academies in Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe, where he began with a realist approach. Over time, his style evolved into one that reflected the broader shifts in modern German painting, incorporating elements of Expressionism while remaining rooted in careful observation and quiet lyricism. His brushwork became softer, his compositions more atmospheric, and his use of color increasingly subtle.

The present lot, though dated indistinctly, presents a deeply symbolic and emotional scene. A pair of lovers stand in a close embrace beneath a blossoming fruit tree, surrounded by green hills and illuminated by a clear blue sky. A still pool of water lies below them, suggesting depth, reflection, and continuity. The moment feels timeless and tender, shaped as much by feeling as by form. The subject may well reflect Modersohn's own life, possibly depicting a memory or an imagined scene with his wife, the painter Paula Modersohn-Becker, during their time together in Worpswede.

After Paula’s untimely death, Modersohn’s work became more introspective. He focused on the quiet rhythms of rural life, often painting winter landscapes and scenes of solitude. His ability to convey emotional depth through restraint and atmosphere became a hallmark of his later style. Today, his work is held in several major German collections, including the Otto Modersohn Museums in Fischerhude and Tecklenburg, where his legacy as a sensitive observer of nature and human experience continues to resonate.