Kirche im Dorf, Murnau. 1930/ 40s.
Oil on light board, laid on board.
Rear with estate stamp as well as with typography on an adhesive label: "Kon. 5/14" and once more with inscription. 37,3 x 46,4 cm (14,6 x 18,2 in).

PROVENANCE: Franz and Katharina Resch, Gauting.
Private collection Southern Germany.

EXHIBITION: Gabriele Münter. Die Zeit nach Kandinsky in Murnau. Schlossmuseum Murnau, 26 July - 04 November, 2012, with color illu. on p. 146.

Gabriele Münter received her first art lessons at the 'Damen-Kunstschule' (Ladies Art School) in Düsseldorf and then attended the Society of Woman Artists as M. Dasio's and A. Jank's pupil. Then she went to Munich where she visited the private art school 'Phalanx' which was run by Wassily Kandinsky. In 1904 Münter and Kandinsky began travelling together: to Holland, Italy, France - where they met Rousseau and Matisse - and elsewhere. Stylistically she now distanced herself from Impressionism and her works began showing Fauve and Expressionist influences. In 1908 she and Kandinsky began leading a calmer life in their apartment in Munich. They often met with Klee, Marc, Macke, Jawlensky and Marianne von Werefkin. The country house Münter bought in Murnau provided an ideal working environment. In 1909 the artist began painting glass, a medium which would later also be adopted by Kandinsky, Marc, Macke and Campendonk. Münter was a member of the 'Neue Künstlervereinigung München' for two years and in 1911 she joined the 'Blaue Reiter', the artist group founded by Kandinsky and Marc. She was interested in Kandinsky's development towards abstract art, but her own works continued to be figurative. Her landscapes, figurative scenes and portraits show a reduction to the essential with an inclination towards humorous characterisation. When war broke out, Münter and Kandinsky at first moved to Switzerland. Münter, however, decided a year later to go to Stockholm, where she separated from Kandinsky. In late autumn 1917 she moved to Copenhagen. She travelled a lot during the 1920s and spent some time in Munich, Murnau, Cologne and Berlin. After 1931 she spent most of her time in Murnau and Munich.

After returning from Scandinavia and the final separation from Kandinsky, Murnau became a permanent residence for Gabriele Münter, which she would maintain up to the end of her life. The rediscovery of the local lower Alp landscape would from then on enrich her paintings. The foothills of the Alps and the area around Murnau were her first choice motif, accordingly, the view from her house onto the small town was a very popular subject. In front of a typical Bavarian sky in white and blue, Münter captured the group of houses around the towering church embedded in the soothing green of the rural environment. In these years Gabriele Münter employed a painting style based on the object and does without any specific experiments. A strong contouring which Münter otherwise preferred, is completely omitted here in favor of a loose painting manner. The landscape is shown in a weightlessness that is rarely found in the artist's paintings. The slight sketch-like style of some parts hints that Münter has worked here in front of nature, just as she did on trips she went on while she was still together with Kandinsky. The loving description of Murnau, which had become her hometown, makes for this work's keynote. For its fresh colors it particularly captures the observers attention.

In 1956 she received the Culture Prize of the City of Munich. The year 1960 saw the first exhibition of Münter's work in the US, followed in 1961 by a large show in the Mannheim Kunsthalle. The artist died in her house at Murnau on 19 May 1962.