Karl May Lrg Signed Mid Century Modern Oil-Middle East/North African Scene, 1957

Description: Please read description and look at photos carefully. Be sure to refer to our terms and conditions and ask any and all questions before making a purchase. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS: PLEASE READ IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE PURCHASING. Thank you! Original vintage oil painting on masonite signed by Karl May (German-Canadian Modernist, 1901-1976). Dated 1957. Shows a moody view of a village scene in the Middle East or North Africa surrounded by beautiful palm trees, and executed with gorgeous mid-century modern style. Board measures 22.5x 35.5 inches. Measures 27x 40 inches with the frame. Condition is overall good: crazing and scattered paint loss in various areas. Please refer to detailed photos included above. Still overall beautiful presentation. Please read description and look at photos carefully. Be sure to refer to our terms and conditions and ask any and all questions before making a purchase. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS: PLEASE READ IMPORTANT INFORMATION BELOW BEFORE PURCHASING. Thank you! About Karl May: Karl May was born in Bohemia in 1901, and studied at the academies in Vienna and Prague. His extensive travels throughout the Middle East and Europe led to his association with the celebrated artists of Bruke and Blaue Reiter groups in Germany. By 1926 he had been appointed professor at the Prague Academy and he won the coveted Rome Prize. World War II interrupted his professional and personal life and many of his paintings were confiscated as "degenerate art" and later burned in Berlin together with works by Klee, Nolde, Kirchner, Beckman, and others.After the war he spent several years teaching in the Middle East. He emigrated to Canada in 1952, settling in the Laurentians, north of Montreal. He continued to teach, paint and travel until his death in 1976. When the young Karl May made his significant contacts with the German art scene in the early Twenties, C. G. Heise declared that Expressionism had become a fashion and Kokoschka's friend H. Tietze spoke of its demise.1 Although May's artistic and intellectual formation occurred in such vital centers as Vienna and Berlin and at a time of unparalleled artistic fermentation, he does not seem to have been particularly affected by the revolutionary avant garde movements from synthetic cubism to surrealism. Neither the political and social engagement so prevalent among the post World War I artists, nor their preoccupation with the subconscious appear to have had an appreciable impact on May's development. As far as can be ascertained from the fragmentary remains of May's painting to the end of the Thirties2, he was a moderate second generation Expressionist, devoid of the intensity and anguish of the initiators of the movement, yet profoundly marked by their achievement. Many elements in the astonishingly prolific and aried oeuvre of Karl May after the Second War3 reflect his affinity with members of Die Brucke and Der Blaue Reiter in particular. The language of his stark and innovative tar prints is informed by early Brucke woodcuts; his broadly applied, sometimes haughty colours recall Schmidt-Rottluff aquarelles. May's avowed closeness to Otto Muller is borne out by angular abstracting contours and judicious use of earth tones. There is the concern with the "essential" animal, predominating in his European exhibitions from 1948 - 1952, that links him with Marc. His Persian, Mexican, Indian and Native subject matter parallels Nolde's and Pechstein's penchant for the exotic, and his revival of painting on glass (Hinterglasmalerei) mirrors the interest of the Blue Rider group, especially Kandinsky, in this primitive art form.4 Despite these links, Karl May cannot be labelled. Many styles of past and present - just as nature, animate and inanimate - have provided stimuli for his work, which is permeated by an extraordinary optimism, a great love for life and his vocation. This is perhaps most evident in his large and almost unknown production of remarkably fresh, excellent drawings in charcoal and other media. Another important feature of the versatile talents of Karl May is his infallible sense of artistic response to materials.5 Here the "Night Journey" (1959, National Gallery Ottawa) comes to mind: pieces of weathered barn planks are combined with oils to convey the fragility of the boat through their material reality as well as the eerie mood of the night through their light-absorbing and reflecting properties. This feeling for the intrinsic potential of materials is inextricably linked with May's reverence for and practice of superior craftsmanship. They partly explain his lifelong occupation with hinterglas painting, the medium with which he was most successful and innovative. Indeed, it would seem that in his work with glass, his inventiveness, zest for experiment, flair for decoration and structural sense unite with his artistic vision, resulting in creations of great expressive force and beauty. The revival and expansion of his neglected technique alone are a significant and particularly unique contribution to contemporary Canadian art. More importantly, in the category of hinterglas the artistic development of Karl May stands out clearly - from the colourful flower and animal pieces of the Thirties (Exhibition Gurlitt Gallery, Berlin, 1938) over the evocatively luminous towers of Prague ("Old City", 1960, Coll. Lotte Lehmann, Santa Barbara) to the symbolic abstraction of the "Golden Road", 1972, Priv. Coll., Toronto) or, in other words, from the earthbound to the metaphysical Karl May has sublimated his artistic message most memorably. -by Dr. Rosemarie Bergmann **Terms and conditions** We can only accept credit card payments online and cannot accept checks or wire transfers, etc. Any sold items with a value of over $200 will require a signature confirmation upon delivery. **PLEASE BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR TRACKING INFORMATION FOR UPDATES TO ENSURE, YOU, THE BUYER, ARE AVAILABLE FOR DELIVERY** If an item needs to be sent back to the return address for absence at delivery, you will be sent an invoice for re-delivery charges. *INTERNATIONAL BUYERS* YOU NEED TO PROVIDE A PHONE NUMBER THAT IS BEST TO REACH YOU FOR YOUR CUSTOMS LABEL UPON MAKING A PURCHASE. PLEASE STAY UP TO DATE WITH THE TRACKING INFORMATION PROVIDED (For local tracking, please plug your tracking number into the ParcelsApp website). 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Price: 399 USD

Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

End Time: 2025-01-26T17:52:32.000Z

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