In the winter of 1910/11, an Emil Nolde created a group of works unusual for his oeuvre. In these works the artist made the Berlin nightlife the main motif. He found inspiration in the extraordinary atmosphere of the cabarets, dance halls, theaters and the circus, which he let directly flow onto the paper in a spontaneous manner and in radiant colors. He reported the following about the frenzy he worked with on these evenings: "A strong urge to be active had taken hold of me. Every evening at eleven I put on my dark trousers and the black St. Galler tailcoat, too [.] and we went to masked balls, to the cabarets , to the ice rink. [.] I drew and drew, the light of the halls, the surface tinsel, the people [..]" (Emil Nolde, quoted from: Emil Nolde. In glow and color, Munich 2013, p. 111).

The present watercolor bears testimony to the extraordinary immediacy with which the artist captured these scenes. In a radiant red-orange, a strong pink and an atmospheric blue, he presents us the singer in almost full-length, like he was trying to give us a quick glimpse, an idea of his impression of the stage opening up in front of his eyes. There is a subliminal tension in the lady’s seemingly calm posture. The color’s remarkable independence, the expressive reduction of the form and the detachment of the figure from its context give the scenery a noticeable drama and the singer an amazing presence. Emil Nolde succeeded in translating the expression of the moment into color with great effectiveness. [AM]