About the work
Christian Modersohn's favourite time of the day was early evening, when the translucent rays of the setting sun irradiate the colours of the natural landscape and, together with the encroaching twilight, cast a mellifluous glow over the meadows - as seen here in this work which he painted facing east, from the elevated vantage point of the bridge over the northern arm of the River Wümme on the eve of his 60th birthday. In order to defy the rapidly shifting light, he exploited the full advantage of water-colour, quickly committing to paper his fleeting observations. Initially the structure of the work was briefly sketched in using charcoal or sometimes red chalk. Christian Modersohn began every painting with an outline of the often rapidly changing sky, followed by the course of a river reflecting the sky and then the flanking trees and bushes.
Christian Modersohn's water-colours are defined by their inherent light. Painting wet-in-wet, he would often wipe the brush dry on his jacket,and then draw it slowly through the paint to leave a hard edge of pigment. This was very much a technique he developed himself. The paint had to be applied to the surface quickly and assuredly as subsequent corrections were not possible. For this reason the water-colourists had to work rapidly, and with great concentration and care.
Text authored and provided by Antje Modersohn, born 1955, granddaughter of Otto Modersohn
from his third marriage with Louise Modersohn-Breling, married, three children. Studied art history in Munich and Hamburg. Involved in the establishing of the Otto Modersohn Museum and archive in Fischerhude as of 1974. Member of the boards of the Gesellschaft-Otto-Modersohn-Museum e.V., the Otto Modersohn Foundation, Fischerhude since 1989, of the Paula-Modersohn-Becker-Stiftung, Bremen since 2008 and of the Otto-Modersohn-Museum e.V., Tecklenburg since 2015. Following the death of her father, Christian Modersohn (1916-2009), she and her husband, Rainer Noeres, took over management in 2010 of the Otto Modersohn Museum in Fischerhude, which provides public access to an extensive number of paintings, drawings, studies and sketchbooks. Among other roles, Antje Modersohn is the co-editor of the correspondence between Paula Modersohn-Becker and Otto Modersohn, which was published by the Insel publishing house in 2017. (Visit website)
