Lesser Ury — Hochbahnhof Nollendorfplatz von der Bülowstraße aus gesehen, Berlin (ca. 1920s)

Description

CharacteristicsSigned in black lower left ‘Lesser Ury’. Stamped on the reverse of the stretcher “LEOPOL[D HESS]/Kunstmaterial[ien]/Berlin W., Genthiner-[…].”.

ConditionMinor retouching at the outermost upper and right margin

Frame46 × 62.5 cm18.1 × 24.6 in

Catalogue raisonnéPhoto-expertise and an expert opinion by Dr. Sibylle Groß, Berlin, dated 10 May 2021; the painting will be included in the catalogue raisonné of Lesser Ury currently in preparation.

The Story BehindLesser Ury knew how to elicit atmospheric moments from the city of Berlin, just as he knew how to set the scene for Berlin’s surrounding countryside. His snapshots of metropolitan traffic, which over time shifted more and more from horse-drawn carriages to automobiles, are famous.

Architectural scenes like these are rarely seen in Lesser Ury’s paintings. The illusionism of rain-soaked asphalt and the capture of subtle liveliness succeed perfectly here.