Related works

Two Girls, 1913

Dimensions: 130.0 x 100.0 cm

Physical Description: Oil on canvas

Inventory Number: 2011

Acquisition: Acquired in 1949, partially with funds provided by the Carl Schaub-Stiftung; formerly Carl Hagemann Collection

Status: Not on display

Texts

About the Work

Everything around the two girls is in motion. People and objects are dissolved into crystalline, geometric forms. Figures are duplicated, while colourful lines and glaring cones of light criss-cross the picture. Macke’s painting shows how impressed he was by the art of the Italian Futurists, who glorified speed and technology. At the same time, he took his cue from the abstracting formal language of the French Cubists. Macke painted only the two girls rather formally and in an almost classical way, thus, not letting them blend into the shimmering city life.

About the Acquisition

From 1900 onwards, the Frankfurt chemist and industrialist Carl Hagemann (1867‒1940) assembled one of the most important private collections of modern art. It included numerous paintings, drawings, watercolours and prints, especially by members of the artist group “Die Brücke”. After Carl Hagemann died in an accident during the Second World War, the then Städel director Ernst Holzinger arranged for Hagemann’s heirs to evacuate his collection with the museum’s collection. In gratitude, the family donated almost all of the works on paper to the Städel Museum in 1948. Further donations and permanent loans as well as purchases of paintings and watercolours from the Hagemann estate helped to compensate for the losses the museum had suffered in 1937 as part of the Nazi’s “Degenerate Art” campaign. Today, the Hagemann Collection forms the core of the Städel museum’s Expressionist collection.

This painting from the Hagemann Collection was acquired with help of the foundation of Carl Schaub (1851–1905), a man of independant means living in Frankfurt's West End. In 1905, he had established a foundation, which was appointed as heir to his estate. Its purpose was to acquire works of art for the Städel. Since the bequest of Johann Friedrich Städel, this was the largest legacy for art in Frankfurt.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Two Girls

Painter

August Macke

Period Produced

20th century

School

expressionism

Object Type

painting (artwork)

Physical Description: Oil on canvas

Material

canvas

Technique

Work Catalogues

Heiderich 2008, Nr. 413

Property and Acquisition

Institution

Städel Museum

Departement

Modern Art 1800–1945

Collection

Städelsches Kunstinstitut

Creditline: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright: Public Domain

Acquisition: Acquired in 1949, partially with funds provided by the Carl Schaub-Stiftung; formerly Carl Hagemann Collection

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

Main Motif

Associated Source

Gebrüder Grimm: Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot

Iconclass

Primary

31D13(+72) adolescent, young woman, maiden (+ two persons)
31AA231 standing figure - AA - female human figure
33A53 arm in arm (friends)

Secondary

22C4(RED) colours, pigments, and paints: red
22C4(BLUE) colours, pigments, and paints: blue
22C4(YELLOW) colours, pigments, and paints: yellow

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: ...

Galerie Rudolf Probst, Mannheim

verkauft an Carl Hagemann (1867-1940), Frankfurt, 1937

Nachlass Carl Hagemann, 1940

Depositum im Städel Museum, Frankfurt, 1941

verkauft an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, Juni 1949.

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: