Iris und Stiefmütterchen
Emil Nolde
1929
- YEAR:1929
- MEDIUM:Oil on panel
- DIMENSIONS:73.3 × 87.7 cm
Introduction
Emil Nolde, one of the most important German artists of the 20th century, attached profound symbolic meaning to flowers, a subject that recurred throughout his life. In 1927, Nolde and his wife Ada moved to the small town of Seebüll, where they designed flowerbeds in the shapes of their initials, E and A. It was here that he painted Iris und Stiefmütterchen, using rich, vigorous brushwork and deeply saturated tones to convey an intense, dreamlike atmosphere, imbuing the work with powerful emotional expression. He once said, “I love the colours of flowers in bloom and the purity of their hues. I also love the fate of flowers: growing upward, vibrant and delightful, then bowing and withering, finally falling into the dust. Life, however, is not always so beautiful.”
