Frühling im Zimmer , 1904 oil on canvas , 88.5 x 73.5 cm . © Nolde Stiftung Seebüll
Photo : Fotowerkstatt Elke Walford , Hamburg , and Dirk Dunkelberg , Berlin
Zwei am Meeresstrand , 1903 oil on canvas , 73.5 x 88.5 cm .
© Nolde Stiftung Seebüll
Photo : Fotowerkstatt Elke Walford , Hamburg , and Dirk Dunkelberg , Berlin encounter the more familiar masterpieces that have made Nolde , in spite of his contemptible character , one of the great early twentieth-century modernist artists — gorgeously painted flowers , vibrant scenes from contemporary life , and deeply felt religious narratives , all coloristic and painterly tours de force . Restorers used a variety of technologies to investigate Nolde ’ s manner of painting : x-rays , UV fluorescence , infrared reflectography , and analytic mapping . With the help of smartphones or on tablets provided by the museum , viewers can “ see through ” various layers of Nolde ’ s paintings and follow his rapid and intuitive creative process from grounding his canvases in brilliant hues through sketchy pencil underdrawing to quick brushings of unmixed tube colors generating spontaneous departures from the underdrawing . nicely demonstrated . The other major focus of the exhibition has to do with Nolde ’ s relationship to his Danish wife , Ada Vilstrup , and the couple ’ s shared love of a good story as expressed in the artist ’ s frequent painting of scurrilous figures and fantastic creatures . Both exhibitions are cooperative ventures involving the Nolde museum and study center at the artist ’ s former home in Seebüll .
Tip : Check out Kunst und Kalkül : Der ganze Nolde ( German only ) in the Arte Mediathek and buy a “ combi-ticket ” to both shows .
Nolde and the North at the Bucerius Kunst Forum refers to Nolde ’ s birthplace near the German-Danish border as well as to Copenhagen , where he studied in 1900-01 , and to the Danish coast and islands he frequented well into the 1920s . The roughly thematic organization shows how Nolde drew on Danish artists he revered , including Willem Hammershoi and Viggo Johansen , and includes inviting interiors and beautiful coastal landscapes by these and other Scandinavian contemporaries . How Nolde transformed similar subjects into something radically new under the influence of French Post-Impressionism and especially Vincent Van Gogh is
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