Philipp Bauknecht (1884-1933)

The present lot, Selbstbild III, is dated 1928. That same year Bauknecht painted another self portrait wearing the same jacket in the striking contrasting colours. Unlike Selbstbildnis mit Orang-Utan (Wazzau, 2016, no. 170), which gives the impression of a double portrait, the present lot gives us an insight in the artist's studio. The mountains in the background do not reveil the view from the artist's studio but show 'Winterlandschaft Laret bei Davos' from 1928, (Wazzau, 2016, no. 163), the painting at the left shows the only nude Bauknecht ever painted (Wazzau, 2016, no. 112). It was his girlfriend Antonina Beljajewa who posed for it in 1915. Next to a flower still life at the lower right, it shows us several artist's tools, used for making his beautiful woodcuts.

Bauknecht stood out because of a very convincing independence and an individual will for artistic expression. His uncompromising use of colour made him to an important avant-garde artist. Bauknecht left a expressionist oeuvre which came to full growth, despite and because of the knowledge that all existence is finite. (Goia Smid, Philipp Bauknecht, Expressionist in Davos, Bussum 2002, p. 83)