Provenance:
The artist’s estate
Private Collection, Germany (acquired 1958 via Galerie Alex Vömel, Dusseldorf)
Private Collection, Europe (acquired 2006 at Grisebach, Berlin)

Emil Nolde “Rote Gewitterwolken”

Nolde’s view of the North Frisian landscape

Deeply rooted in his North Frisian homeland, Nolde discovered the landscape in his very own way. Where the flat earth offers hardly any vibrant colours, he transfers them to the sky. In “Rote Gewitterwolken”, a fiery red dominates, mingling with dark blue, green, and violet. The clouds move menacingly closer, as if a thunderstorm is about to break out in the next few minutes, and stand in stark contrast to the slim, green strip of horizon. The dark contours, which were applied with brush and ink, give the scene additional expressiveness and structure.

Virtuoso watercolour technique and colour dramaturgy

It is Nolde’s brilliant watercolour artistry that creates this effect. The colours run into each other, overlap, and glow with intense radiance. With just a few brushstrokes, Emil Nolde masterfully creates an atmosphere that oscillates between sublimity and threat.

The sky as the central motif

In “Rote Gewitterwolken”, the sky is not just a background – it becomes the centre of the picture. The depiction is characterised by dynamic movement and irrepressible energy.

Emil Nolde succeeds in creating the impression of a constantly changing force of nature through the targeted combination of bold colours and loose brushwork. His landscapes are therefore not just observations, but intense emotional experiences.