SCHLEGEL, HERBERT ROLF1889 Breslau - 1972 Schondorf/Ammersee


Title: Bathers.
Date: 1941.
Technique: Pencil on Paper, mounted on card.
Measurement: 110.5 x 55.5cm.
Notation: Monogrammed and dated laterally left: "HRS III.41".
Frame: Framed.
Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

Herbert Rolf Schlegel's art has been increasingly recognised by the art world and the art market in recent years.
Having grown up in prosperity, Herbert Rolf Schlegel initially completed a commercial apprenticeship before turning to art. He studied at the academies in Düsseldorf and Weimar for a short time, but spent the longest time in Kassel, where he was enrolled from 1913 to 1921, interrupted by the First World War. Schlegel studied painting and "art for the higher teaching profession" at the same time and passed both exams. He lived as a freelance painter and graphic artist in Kassel before moving to St. Georgen near Dießen am Ammersee in 1924. Eight years later, in 1932, the artist moved to the neighbouring community of Schondorf, where he lived, painted and taught until his death in 1972. Herbert Rolf Schlegel did not date any of the present works; however, inscriptions on the verso with the artist's place of residence can provide possible clues as to when they were created. One event in the artist's life is frequently mentioned: in 1921, his young wife died in childbirth with their newborn baby. It is speculated that this tragedy had a profound effect on the artist's character, his reclusive lifestyle and perhaps also his art.
(At least) three currents can be recognised in Herbert Rolf Schlegel's work: Like his Weimar teacher Ludwig von Hofmann, he was fond of the Lebensreform movement and his groups of female nudes by water reflect this. They show both New Objectivity traits and echoes of Art Nouveau (catalogue 1405, 1406). The title sometimes places the depicted persons in a classical mythological context, sometimes they appear as friends sharing a harmonious moment. The large-scale nude drawing (catalogue 1403) is to be seen in the same context, but also shows the artist's virtuoso handling of another medium.
In many paintings, Herbert Rolf Schlegel also questions the role of the sexes. A topic that was already being discussed 100 years ago and which makes the artist seem almost visionary today. Arcadian, southern landscapes with subordinate staffage figures, such as the one presented here (catalogue 1407), form a third focal point in Schlegel's oeuvre. Presenting these five previously unpublished works by Herbert Rolf Schlegel can give new impetus to the view of his work.