Oil on canvas
Germany, 1st half of the 20th century
Erich Thum; pseudonym for Elfriede Thum-Lauckner (1886-1952) - Berlin painter and graphic artist
Signed ‘Thum’ upper right
Dimensions: 80 x 90 cm
Good condition
Provenance: Private collection, Rhineland-Palatinate
Scenic representation of a strip mine, whose austere beauty is captured in expressive colors; the auction record for an oil painting by Erich Thum is set at over €13,000

At first glance, one might think, the German artist Elfriede Thum-Lauckner, who used the pseudonym of Erich Thum, depicted an idyllic mountain landscape in this expressive oil painting. Upon closer inspection, however, one realizes that it is the depiction of a strip mine. The artist was fascinated by the contrast of industry and nature. Thus she created several motifs which portray the modern industrial age, in addition to picturesque river landscapes influenced by Pointillism. Skillfully Thum managed to capture the roughness and bleakness of the subject matter in a powerful color scheme that captivates the viewer.



The painting is signed ‘Thum’ upper right. It is in good condition. On the reverse backed with several patches of canvas. Some scattered retouchings to the sky. The frame shows some wear. The framed work measures 93 x 103 cm, the stretcher frame measures 80 x 90 cm.



Erich Thum; pseudonym for Elfriede Thum-Lauckner (1886-1952)

The Berlin-born artist Elfriede Thum studied at the University of Lausanne in the early 1890s, where she met her future husband, the writer Rolf Lauckner. She trained herself with the painter Charles Johann Palmié based in Dresden. Thum’s first exhibition took place in 1912 in the Berlin gallery Cassirer. Therefore, she adopted the pseudonym of Erich Thum, under which she painted from then on. The artistic model for her paintings, considered degenerate during the Nazi regime, were the works by the pointillist painter Giovanni Segantini, who was considered a master of the plein air painting. Today, works by Thum are part of major museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. (tfa)

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