Group of Four with Diagonal Profile, 1942

Blatt: max. 527 x 312 mm

Physical Description: Oil over pencil on oil paper, perforations in the corners

Inventory Number: 17912

Object Number: 17912 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

In his late years, Schlemmer headed a laboratory for lacquer technology at the Kurt Herbert lacquer factory in Wuppertal — an activity involving a lot of experimentation with painting technique. It was also a phase in which the artist devoted himself more to painting again in general. The smooth yellow oil paper had been his preferred image carrier since 1935; it enabled him to spread the areas still damp with a brush or a kind of doctor blade. In the diagonal head, that process brought about the fine parallel lines that combine with the remaining hatched application of the paint to create a vibrant overall effect.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Group of Four with Diagonal Profile

Draughtsman

Oskar Schlemmer

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Oil over pencil on oil paper, perforations in the corners

Material

Technique

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Datiert unten rechts (mit Bleistift?): 1942

Watermark

Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues

von Maur G 505
Hildebrandt 387

Property and Acquisition

Institution

Städel Museum

Departement

Department of Prints and Drawings

Collection

Städelsches Kunstinstitut

Creditline: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright: Public Domain

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

personal depiction

Main Motif

Iconclass

Primary

31D14 adult man

Secondary

31B62311 lips pressed together as for a kiss

Associative

31D15 adult woman

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: ...

Galerie Großhennig, Düsseldorf

verkauft an Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt, 1957

Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: