Lot 3212* - A218 Tableaux du 19e siècle - vendredi, 18. septembre 2026, 16h00
HANS THOMA
(Bernau 1839–1924 Karlsruhe)
Vue sur la vallée de Lauterbrunnen, 1904
Huile sur toile
Monogrammé et daté en bas à gauche: HTh 1904
160,5 × 134 cm
Provenance:
- Adolf Gans collection (1842–1912), Frankfurt am Main (from 1904).
- Clara Gans collection (1881–1959).
- By inheritance, private collection, Germany.
- Auction Ketterer, Munich, 26 November 1991, lot 1003.
- With J. P. Schneider, Frankfurt am Main.
- European collection.
Exhibited:
- Karlsruhe 1909, Karlsruher Kunstverein 1909, no. 87.
- Dresden 1909, Sächsischer Kunstverein Dresden, no. 50.
- Frankfurt am Main 1919, Kunstverein Frankfurt am Main, no. 73.
- Berlin 1922, Thoma-Ausstellung. Gemälde von Hans Thoma aus deutschem Privatbesitz, Nationalgalerie Berlin, no. 173.
- Basel 1924, Hans Thoma, Kunsthalle Basel, 19 January–17 February 1924, no. 133.
- Zurich 1924, Hans Thoma, Kunsthaus Zürich, 7 March–6 April 1924, no. 110.
- Bern 1924, Hans Thoma, Kunsthalle Bern, 11 May–15 June 1924, no. 145.
- Frankfurt am Main 1934, Hans Thoma, Städel Museum, autumn 1934, no. 96.
- Frankfurt am Main 1992, 100 Jahre am Rossmarkt 23, J. P. Schneider, June 1992, no. 26.
- Karlsruhe 1993, Bilder im Zirkel. 175 Jahre Badischer Kunstverein, Badischer Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 2 October–21 November 1993, no. 32.
- Frankfurt am Main 2013, Faszination Fremde. Bilder aus Europa, dem Orient und der Neuen Welt, Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universität, 16 March–13 July 2013, no. 35.
- Frankfurt am Main / Karlsruhe 2014, Die andere Moderne. Kunst und Künstler in den Ländern am Rhein - 1900 bis 1922, Museum Giersch der Goethe-Universität / Städtische Galerie Karlsruhe, 23 March–13 June 2014 / 2 August–19 October 2014, no. 78.
Literature:
- Heinrich Keller Verlag (ed.): Hans Thomas Gemälde, Frankfurt am Main 1910, portfolio 6, ill. 79.
- Fritz von Ostini: Hans Thoma, Leipzig 1910, p. 53, ill. 47.
- Georg D. W. Callwey im Kunstwart-Verlag (ed.): Thoma Mappe, Munich circa 1910 (with ill.).
- Gustav Keyssner: Thoma. Eine Auswahl aus dem Lebenswerk des Meisters in 117 Abbildungen, Stuttgart/Berlin 1922, p. 91 (with ill.).
- Ludwig Justi: Hans Thoma. 100 Gemälde aus deutschem Privatbesitz, Berlin 1922, plate 65.
- Otto Fischer: Hans Thoma. Bilder und Bekenntnisse, Stuttgart 1925, plate 35.
- Emil Waldmann: Hans Thoma und sein Kreis, in: Propyläen Kunstgeschichte XV, Die Kunst des Realismus und des Impressionismus im 19. Jahrhundert, Berlin 1927, pp. 59 ff. and p. 295 (with ill.).
- Hermann Eris Busse: Hans Thoma. Leben und Werk, Berlin 1936, p. 106 (with ill.).
- Ulrich Christoffel: Der Berg in der Malerei, Bern 1963, p. 92 (with ill. plate 44).
- Jan Lauts and Werner Zimmermann: Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Katalog Neuere Meister, Karlsruhe 1971, Vol. I, p. 266, no. Lg 567 (with ill. Vol. II, p. 465).
- Nicolò Rasmo / Marcel Roethlisberger / Eberhard Ruhmer: Die Alpen in der Malerei, Rosenheim 1981, p. 128 (with ill. no. 128).
- Christa von Helmolt: Hans Thoma. Spiegelbilder, Stuttgart 1989, p. 147 (with ill. on p. 151).
- Exh. cat. Hans Thoma - Lebensbilder: Gemäldeausstellung zum 150. Geburtstag, ed. Städtische Museen der Stadt Freiburg, Augustiner Museum, Freiburg im Breisgau 1989, p. 31 (with ill.).
- Exh. cat. Die Lebensreform. Entwürfe zur Neugestaltung von Leben und Kunst um 1900, ed. Kai Buchholz, Rita Latocha, Hilke Peckmann, Klaus Wolbert, Darmstadt 2001, Vol. II, p. 263 (with ill.).
With its impressive scenery and more than seventy waterfalls, the Lauterbrunnen Valley in the Bernese Oberland is one of the most beautiful places in Switzerland. Hans Thoma, who undertook numerous journeys through Switzerland throughout his life, was likewise impressed by the monumental landscape. In his autobiography, the artist describes how, in the year the painting was created, he travelled through Switzerland at the invitation of Grand Duke Frederick I of Baden (1826–1907), accompanied by the geographer Georg Gerland (1833–1919), a journey that also took Thoma to the Lauterbrunnen Valley (see Hans Thoma: Im Winter des Lebens. Aus acht Jahrzehnten gesammelte Erinnerungen, Jena 1919, pp. 114 and 123).
The powerful impression made on Thoma by the majestic mountain landscape is wonderfully apparent in the present large-format painting, which undoubtedly represents a museum-quality masterpiece within his oeuvre. Probably from the viewing platform on the Schynige Platte, the painter opens up a panoramic view across the valley towards the legendary Breithorn. Thoma dispenses with figure staffage, further heightening the immediacy of his depiction of nature and making the viewer the protagonist of the painting by confronting them directly with the Alpine panorama. The bands of cloud traversing the image and the degree of abstraction achieved through Thoma's painterly rendering of the mountain structure also bring the present painting close to Alpine depictions by other great masters, such as those of Thoma's contemporary Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918).
Thoma, who preferred landscape painting, found many picturesque regions in Switzerland that he captured in his works. In addition to the present masterpiece, which is among Thoma's largest landscape paintings, there is, for example, a magnificent view of the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen, today in the Kunsthalle Bremen (inv. no. 241-1902/1), and a view from Mount Pilatus, auctioned by Koller in 2018 (A184 lot 3262).
The great importance of the work offered here is further confirmed by its extensive exhibition and publication history. Soon after the painting left Thoma's studio, it was already shown in exhibitions organised by important German art associations. In 1924 the painting then toured renowned Swiss museums and was also shown in Zurich. We are therefore particularly delighted to be able to present this outstanding and, in so many respects, unique masterpiece by Thoma to the public in Zurich once again after more than 100 years.
The powerful impression made on Thoma by the majestic mountain landscape is wonderfully apparent in the present large-format painting, which undoubtedly represents a museum-quality masterpiece within his oeuvre. Probably from the viewing platform on the Schynige Platte, the painter opens up a panoramic view across the valley towards the legendary Breithorn. Thoma dispenses with figure staffage, further heightening the immediacy of his depiction of nature and making the viewer the protagonist of the painting by confronting them directly with the Alpine panorama. The bands of cloud traversing the image and the degree of abstraction achieved through Thoma's painterly rendering of the mountain structure also bring the present painting close to Alpine depictions by other great masters, such as those of Thoma's contemporary Ferdinand Hodler (1853–1918).
Thoma, who preferred landscape painting, found many picturesque regions in Switzerland that he captured in his works. In addition to the present masterpiece, which is among Thoma's largest landscape paintings, there is, for example, a magnificent view of the Rhine Falls near Schaffhausen, today in the Kunsthalle Bremen (inv. no. 241-1902/1), and a view from Mount Pilatus, auctioned by Koller in 2018 (A184 lot 3262).
The great importance of the work offered here is further confirmed by its extensive exhibition and publication history. Soon after the painting left Thoma's studio, it was already shown in exhibitions organised by important German art associations. In 1924 the painting then toured renowned Swiss museums and was also shown in Zurich. We are therefore particularly delighted to be able to present this outstanding and, in so many respects, unique masterpiece by Thoma to the public in Zurich once again after more than 100 years.
CHF 60 000 / 80 000 | (€ 61 860 / 82 470)
Vendu pour CHF 237 500 (frais inclus)