(Liebau 1874 – 1930 Breslau)
Landschaft mit drei Bäumen (Landscape with three trees), 1923, signed with monogram O. M., signed Otto Mueller on the reverse, oil on canvas, 107 x 77 cm, framed

We are grateful to Dr. Tanja Pirsig-Marshall and Dr. Mario Andreas von Lüttichau for providing information and their kind assistance in cataloguing this work.

Provenance:
The estate of the artist
Elfriede Gauger, née Timm (1904–1979),
Berlin (the artist’s last wife) – 1931 received from the above
Leinster Fine Art, London
Acquired 1984 from the above by the present owner -
Private Collection, Germany

Exhibited:
Hamburg, Altonaer Museum on loan until 1970

Literature:
Mario-Andreas von Lüttichau / Tanja Pirsig: Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und Zeichnungen, Munich 2003, no. 282
V. D. Heydorn, Die Landschaftsgalerie im Altonaer Museum in Hamburg, Jahrbuch 1969, page 40, ill. page 41 no. 13

Three rising tree trunks are composed in melodic lines like themes from a fugue: movement and counter-movement – convergence and fleeing as pictorial theme on the one hand and as expressive theme on the other. The basic colour tone is a subdued green that varies from blue to a broken yellow-green colour in the sky. The tree trunks bear a warm tone as a complementary colour, which gently takes up a brown tone in the lower parts, increasing above in the middle tree to a stronger yellow-brown. The vertical format of „Landschaft mit drei Bäumen“ [Landscape with three trees] of 1923 is typical of his style. He creates a visual imagery full of delicate, poignantly pleasing lyricism. His understanding of the importance of negative forms in creating a dense image surface points to a relationship with Japonism.
Altonaer Museum: Jahrbuch, vol. 7, 1969, Hamburg 1969, page 40, ill. page 40 no. 13

We are grateful to Dr. Tanja Pirsig-Marshall and Dr. Mario Andreas von Lüttichau for providing information and their kind assistance in cataloging this work.

Provenance:

The estate of the artist
Elfriede Gauger, née Timm (1904–1979),
Berlin (the artist’s last wife) – 1931 received from the above
Leinster Fine Art, London
Acquired 1984 from the above by the present owner -
Private Collection, Germany

Exhibited:
Hamburg, Altonaer Museum on loan until 1970

Literature:
Mario-Andreas von Lüttichau / Tanja Pirsig: Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und Zeichnungen, München 2003, no. 282
V. D. Heydorn, Die Landschaftsgalerie im Altonaer Museum in Hamburg, Jahrbuch 1969, page 40, ill. page 41 no. 13

Three rising tree trunks are composed in melodic lines like themes from a fugue: movement and counter-movement – convergence and fleeing as pictorial theme on the one hand and as expressive theme on the other. The basic colour tone is a subdued green that varies from blue to a broken yellow-green colour in the sky. The tree trunks bear a warm tone as a complementary colour, which gently takes up a brown tone in the lower parts, increasing above in the middle tree to a stronger yellow-brown. The vertical format of „Landschaft mit drei Bäumen“ [Landscape with three trees] of 1923 is typical of his style. He creates a visual imagery full of delicate, poignantly pleasing lyricism. His understanding of the importance of negative forms in creating a dense image surface points to a relationship with Japonism.
Altonaer Museum: Jahrbuch, vol. 7, 1969, Hamburg 1969, page 40, ill. page 40 no. 13