PROPERTY OF A NEW YORK CITY COLLECTOR
Lot 75
JOSEF SCHARL(1896-1954)Wind-swept Wheatfield
6 December 2022, 14:00 EST
New YorkSold for US$2,550 inc. premium
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Preeya Franklin
Senior Specialist
Flannery Gallagher
Cataloguer
Emily Wilson
Specialist/Head of Sale
JOSEF SCHARL (1896-1954)
Wind-swept Wheatfield
signed and dated 'Jos. Scharl 1949' (lower right), inscribed 'Wind-swept Wheatfield' (lower left)
brush, pen, India ink and wash on paper
13 1/8 x 20 1/4 in (33.3 x 51.5 cm)
Executed in 1949
signed and dated 'Jos. Scharl 1949' (lower right), inscribed 'Wind-swept Wheatfield' (lower left)
brush, pen, India ink and wash on paper
13 1/8 x 20 1/4 in (33.3 x 51.5 cm)
Executed in 1949
Footnotes
We are grateful to Peter Bronner for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.
Provenance
Galerie St. Etienne, New York (acquired directly from the artist).
Sigrid Freundorfer Fine Art, New York (acquired from the above in 2012).
Acquired from the above by the present owner.
Executed in 1949, Wind-swept Wheatfield is a pristine example of Joseph Scharl's powerful style. With a few simple stokes, Scharl brings the viewer into the countryside. The interlacing lines convey the gentle sway of the wheat in the wind, undulating with the curvature of the landscape behind it, while the sepia color of the paper evokes a dream or memory rather than a physical presence within the scene. Attracted to the rustic and tactile nature of worn paper, Scharl often sketched on envelopes and paper bags. Yet in this period, he began to pre-treat his paper with diluted India ink, giving it the appearance of inherent age, and in turn enhancing the nostalgic beauty of the drawing. He created only a few works with this innovative technique, a time-consuming process that undoubtedly adds to the importance and rarity of this drawing. Combining his skills as a painter and as an illustrator, the graphic and poetic nature of this work holds notes from all aspects of Scharl's artistic oeuvre.