Estate of the artist
Bernhard Dexel, Hamburg (the artist's son; by descent from the above)
Carl Laszlo, Basel
Sale: Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, June 7, 2000, lot 109
Barry Friedman, New York
Acquired from the above by the present owner circa 2005

Bonn, Stadtisches Kunstmuseum Bonn, Bilder, Grafik, angewandte Kunst, 1973, no. 87, illustrated in the catalogue
Hanover, Kestner-Gessellschaft, Walter Dexel, 1974, no. 46, illustrated in the catalogue
Ulm, Ulmer Museum & Munster, Westfalisches Landesmuseum fur Kunst und Kulturgeschichte, Walter Dexel: Bilder, Aquarelle, Collagen, Leuchtreklame, Typografie, 1979, no. 139
Cologne, Galerie Stolz, Schöne Tage im Hause Dexel: das Gästebuch, 1990, no. 17, illustrated in color in the catalogue

Ruth Wöbkemeier, W. Dexel, Bild Zeichen Raum (exhibition catalogue), Bremen, 1991, n.p.
Ruth Wöbkemeier, Walter Vitt, Walter Dexel & Werner Hofmann, Walter Dexel Werkverzeichnis, Neustadt, 1998, no. 319, illustrated p. 254 & in color on the front cover

The work is in very good original condition. Painted on glass in what is possibly an artist's frame. Unexamined out of frame. Some minor abrasion is visible to the extreme upper left edge.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Walter Dexel is one of the outstanding exponents of 1920s Constructivism. An autodidact, Dexel's Constructivist practice is defined by his striving to attain a balance between forms, colors and planar expansions. Through the smallest alterations in nuances of color and minimal shifts in the position of forms on the picture plane, he developed pictorial compositions based on a hovering state of tension which simultaneously exude an extraordinary calmness. With each work, he thus repeatedly achieved different unities that are complete and immutable within themselves. The art historian Ulrich Fenkorn explained Dexel’s path towards abstraction, “While Dexel had already sometimes found his way to fully abstract formations as early as 1917, it was only in 1922/23 that his works became entirely non-objective. These unquestionably display the painter's art in a mature state and are considered—and have since become broadly acknowledged—to be highlights of German Constructivism. Dexel turned to non-representational art while in Jena and, without a doubt, this shift was substantially fostered through the diverse manifestations of Constructivism in Russia, at the Bauhaus and particularly in the Dutch De Stijl movement” (Ulrich Fernkorn in Walter Dexel: Bild Zeichen Raum (exhibition catatalogue), Kunsthalle Bremen, 1991, p. 26). Painted in 1926, the present work is an exceedingly rare example of the artist’s late work, just nine years before Dexel abandoned his painting practice entirely.

Born in 1890, Dexel studied under early German Expressonist Heinrich Wölfflin and Fritz Burger, though his first pictures were influenced by Cézanne's landscapes and gradually moved further towards Cubism. In 1918, Dexel became head of exhibitions of the Kunstsammlung Jena, where he organized exhibitions with Bauhaus artists including Lazslo Moholy-Nagy. In the early 1920s Dexel's work moved comprehensively towards Constructivism, partially due to his burgeoning friendship with the Dutch De Stijl artist Théo van Doesburg. As was the case with many Bauhaus and De Stijl school artists, his practice was not limited exclusively to painting. He worked as a typographer, an advertising designer, and interior and stage setting designer, and in 1928 he and his wife Grete Dexel penned the book Das Wohnhaus von Heute, which reflected their interest in the issues of modern living. From 1928 to 1935 Dexel worked as a graphic design lecturer at Magdeburg Kunstgewerbeschule though he was dismissed from this post in 1935 by the Nazis, and decided to give up painting. After the War, he focused his study on the history of the form of househo🀅ld appliances.