‘Self-Portrait’ Carlo Mense

• Early work by the artist, who was just 32 years old at the time • A self-portrait in the New Objectivity style with a highly personal touch • Many of Mense’s works from before 1937 were destroyed during the Nazi era In this auction, Carlo Mense is not merely another New Objectivity artist, but one who shares a particular temporal and geographical proximity to Hanns Bolz. Bolz was born in Aachen in 1885, whilst Mense was born in Rheine in 1886. Both were therefore from the Rhineland; both studied for a time at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Art; both were exposed to similar influences and turned to New Objectivity. Carlo Mense’s complete body of work demonstrates his continued development into a mature artist, whereas Bolz’s career was cut short by his untimely death. Carlo Mense painted his ‘Self-Portrait’ in 1918. Painted in dark tones and illuminated only by a side light source, the face appears mysterious. Mense exaggerates the shape of his face; the eyes are strikingly prominent, the nostrils flared. His neck appears unrealistically slender in his high-collared shirt and bow tie. Compared with photographic portraits of the artist, it is noticeable that this is not a self-caricature, but merely an emphasis on his own distinctive features. Here, Mense demonstrates not only his gift for self-critical observation, but above all the high quality of his painting so early in his career. | 1886 Rheine - Königswinter 1965 | Moderne Kunst | Gemälde | Nummer: 26x2558 | Provenance: Sammlung Dr. Klaus Freckmann, Sobernheim; Privatsammlung, Rheinland-Pfalz (seit 1985); Van Ham, Köln 31.5.2006, Los 422; Ubu Gallery, New York, und Galerie Berinson, Berlin, verso mit dem Etikett der Galerie Berinson; The George Economou Collection, Athen; Sammlung, Rheinland, seit 2021.

Estimate:$37,049.92

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