Satyr & Nymphs Bathing, 1924 Berlin School

After a lost Van Dyke

 

Huge Berlin School Bathing Nymphs and Satyr, oil on canvas.  Huge scale and impressive depiction of nymphs retreating as they are surprised by lascivious satyr whilst they bathe by Berlin turn of the century artist Ernst Knauf.  The satyr are seen arms outstretched in an effort to touch the nymphs.  The artist intended to impress with both the large scale and the dramatic contrast between the flesh and the dark foilage.  The composition is after a 1618 work by Anthony Van Dyke and was last known to be held at the Gemäldegalerie (Berlin, Germany) where it was deposited in the Friedrichshain flak tower for safekeeping.  The painting is presumed to have been destroyed when the tower was burned in May of 1945.  

 

Inscribed on verso “A.v.Dyck, nymphs of a satyrs pursuing. Copy of the original K.Friedrich Museum in Berlin. Ernst F. Knauf 1924”.  Housed in an antique frame. 

 

Good clean condition with minor paint loss at bottom.    

 

Ernst Friedrich Knauf was born in Waren/Mecklenburg in 1879 and lived in Berlin.  He studied in Berlin under Bruno Paul, Max Koch, E.R. Weiß and is well described in Thieme Becker.

 

Measurements: Height 109cm, Width 121cm framed (Height 43”, Width 47.5” framed)

 

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