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Lot Essay
Richard Oelze’s Immer wenn es Sonntag war is a hypnotic conjuration of a phantasmagorical realm, where figures and domestic objects condense into recognisable forms before an otherworldly landscape. Shrouded with a sense of enticing mystery, Oelze’s crepuscular composition beguiles the viewer, compelling them to explore the misty landscape before them, while simultaneously probing into the recesses of the viewer’s mind and consciousness.
Painted in 1948, Immer wenn es Sonntag war testifies to Oelze’s time with the Parisian Surrealists in the mid-1930s. Though Oelze never became a formal member of the group, his works were included in a number of watershed exhibitions and publications co-ordinated by André Breton. While Oelze, as a German citizen, had to leave France in 1936 due to changes in domicile policies, he remained in correspondence with Max Ernst, whose work and working practice he had long-admired. In the present composition, Oelze’s staccato, ultra-fine brushstrokes render the foliage as almost crystalline crags, akin to the porous rocky surface in the foreground of the scene, and recalling the alchemical aesthetic created by Ernst’s frottage and grattage techniques. Here, the sharp materiality of the natural landscape - the rugged ground, the greenery, and the anhedral tree trunks which protrude from the shrubbery- contrasts with the hazy translucence of the anthropomorphic figures and the homely artefacts; the armchairs, and golden ornate picture frame, imparting the work with both an ephemeral and a magical quality. Among the faces on the left side of the painting, which seem to materialise out of the rolling, pearlescent clouds to meet the viewer’s gaze, a seated figure points to his left, directing our attention to the red-caped woman who boldly ventures further into this dreamlike hinterland - an invitation for the viewer to follow her.
Painted in 1948, Immer wenn es Sonntag war testifies to Oelze’s time with the Parisian Surrealists in the mid-1930s. Though Oelze never became a formal member of the group, his works were included in a number of watershed exhibitions and publications co-ordinated by André Breton. While Oelze, as a German citizen, had to leave France in 1936 due to changes in domicile policies, he remained in correspondence with Max Ernst, whose work and working practice he had long-admired. In the present composition, Oelze’s staccato, ultra-fine brushstrokes render the foliage as almost crystalline crags, akin to the porous rocky surface in the foreground of the scene, and recalling the alchemical aesthetic created by Ernst’s frottage and grattage techniques. Here, the sharp materiality of the natural landscape - the rugged ground, the greenery, and the anhedral tree trunks which protrude from the shrubbery- contrasts with the hazy translucence of the anthropomorphic figures and the homely artefacts; the armchairs, and golden ornate picture frame, imparting the work with both an ephemeral and a magical quality. Among the faces on the left side of the painting, which seem to materialise out of the rolling, pearlescent clouds to meet the viewer’s gaze, a seated figure points to his left, directing our attention to the red-caped woman who boldly ventures further into this dreamlike hinterland - an invitation for the viewer to follow her.