Acquired by the grandfather of the present owner in the early 1930s

Matthias Eberle, Max Liebermann 1847-1935, Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde und Ölstudien, 1900-1935, Munich, 1996, vol. II, no. 1924/17, illustrated p. 1109 (with incorrect measurements)

The canvas is lined. There is a thin 3cm. line of retouching to the path in the foreground, with two associated pinhead-sized spots of retouching towards the lower edge. Apart from a 0.5cm. sq. spot of retouching to the lower left corner, this work is in good condition. Colours: The greens are fresher in the original.
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The present work depicts Liebermann's luxuriant garden at his house on the Wannsee near Berlin. Having attained considerable recognition and financial success by the early 1900s, Liebermann commissioned this villa in 1909, sparing no expense on its formal flower beds, exotic shrubs and thick hedges. The garden, depicted here in full bloom in the summertime, was one of the highlights of the property. The Wannsee residence became Liebermann's summer villa during the last decades of his life, and the canvases from this period show his garden in its mid-season glory. This peaceful picture gives no indication of the political upheaval that characterized Germany during the 1920s and is indicative of the solace that this lakeside retreat provided the artist during his later years.  All of the Wannsee works exude a reassuring sense of freedom, both in subject and technique, and convey the contentment Liebermann derived from spending time at his country villa.

Liebermann worked as an Impressionist in the beginning of his career, and his appreciation for plein air pai🤡nting continued throughout his life. One can see evidence of his lingering Impressionist tendencies in the fluid application of paint and the diffusion꧑ of light throughout this composition, reminiscent of Renoir's pictures of the Wargemont garden and Monet's canvases of Giverny. Like Monet, who also continued to paint his garden into the last years of his life, Liebermann approached his late landscapes with a considerably freer application of paint and more daring use of colour than in his earlier work.