3245
Koester, Alexander
1864 Neustadt - 1932 Munich.
Coffee break.
Oil on canvas. Signed lower right.
H 78, W 94 cm (support). Elaborate frame.
Mainly known for the numerous depictions of ducks in his works, Alexander Koester's pronounced preference for the duck motif led to the nickname «Enten-Koester (duck-Koester)». However, he also painted numerous other themes, such as still lifes, landscapes and interiors. Here we see two women and a little girl in a parlour, busy sewing and enjoying a coffee break. In an impressionistic manner, Koester captures the light-flooded parlour and provides an insight into everyday life at the turn of the century. The loving gaze of mother to child lends the scene a cosy and touching atmosphere. He often depicted the same subjects with only a few modifications.
The present work is a variation on Alexander Koester's painting «Kaffeepause (coffee break)», recorded under catalogue raisonné 17, which was sold at auction at Christie's New York in 1992 (lot 79) for 100.000 US Dollars. A comparison of the two paintings shows only few differences. Composition, colour palette and signature are typical of the artist's genre paintings of the period between 1890 and 1898.
Provenance: private collection Northern Black Forest in third generation.
Catalogue raisonné: Stein/Koester 17 (cf.).

Condition report