The Song of Solomon

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The Song of Solomon, sheet 11 (Egon Tschirch)
The Song of Solomon , sheet 11
Egon Tschirch , 1923
Gouache on cardboard
64 × 47 cm
Privately owned

The Song of Solomon is the title of a completely preserved expressionist picture cycle from 1923.

The German painter Egon Tschirch (1889–1948) interpreted texts from the Song of Solomon from the Old Testament . The work was considered lost for over 90 years and was rediscovered in 2015.

Description and interpretation

The young Egon Tschirch had his most experimental phase in the early 1920s. Within a short time he developed his own style. It was characterized by the use of the basic colors yellow, red and blue. Both the strong colors and the expressive, dynamic compositions of his works regularly provoked violent reactions.

It was during this period that Tschirch dealt with the yearning, erotic texts of the love song from the Old Testament. Man and woman take turns singing about their love for each other in the changing interplay of desire and fulfillment, of separation and union. To this end, Tschirch created at least 50 picturesque sheets of fantastic images in exciting choreography. The power of nature, sensuality and spirit worked together in a redeeming way. He was able to bring the phenomena of light and shadow, warmth and cold in nature to the point. As a result of the examination of the topic and material, Egon Tschirch selected 19 works and numbered them in order to arrange them personally in expositions on exhibition walls.

  • page 1

  • page 2

  • Sheet 3

  • Sheet 4

  • Sheet 5

  • Sheet 6

  • Sheet 7

  • Sheet 8

  • Sheet 9

  • Sheet 10

  • Sheet 12

  • Sheet 13

  • Sheet 14

  • Sheet 15

  • Sheet 16

  • Sheet 17

  • Sheet 18

  • Sheet 19

background

From 1913 Egon Tschirch worked on the subject of the Song of Solomon with interruptions due to the war. On Easter Sunday 1923, the exhibition was Association Rostock artist in the Municipal Museum Rostock opened. It was so well received that in 1924 the Landesmuseum Schwerin also showed the cycle of pictures.

The work then went into private ownership and disappeared in a Berlin cellar not far from Kurfürstendamm at the end of the 1920s . The cycle of pictures was completely forgotten and in 2008 it was saved from disposal by chance. In 2015 a large number of images were rediscovered. Based on newspaper reviews from the time the cycle was written, it was possible to assign it to the Song of Solomon in terms of motifs. With the appearance of further works in 2019, the cycle was finally completed again. The collection of images comprised a total of 32 of the 50 guaranteed works, including all 19 numbered sheets and 13 studies.

Presentation and provenance

After the first presentation in Rostock in 1923, the works were also shown in Schwerin in 1924.

Then the work, along with further studies, came into the private possession of an art decoration painter who was friends with Egon Tschirch in Rostock. After his death in 1928, the pictures remained with his heirs until 2015. It was then possible to bring the works of art back to Rostock . In 2017, large parts of the rediscovered picture cycle were shown to the public in the Ahrenshoop Art Museum . In 2020 the complete cycle can be seen again in Rostock for the first time after 97 years.

  • Study A

  • Study B

  • Study C

  • Study D

  • Study E

  • Study F

  • Study G

  • Study H.

  • Study I.

  • Study K

  • Study L

  • Study M

See also

further picture cycles for the Song of Solomon :

literature

  • Marion Gardei, Andreas Nachama (Ed.): Das Hohelied , translation: Max A. Klausner, German, Hebrew, including Jewish and Christian interpretative history, drawings: Astrid Saalmann. Berlin 2016, ISBN 978-3-95565-180-0 .
  • Eros and Myth. The Song of Solomon . From the Heb. transl., ext. and brought into dialogue form by Egbert Richter-Ushanas. 4th, revised. Edition Richter, Bremen 2004, ISBN 3-924942-38-2 .
  • Klaus Mayer: How beautiful is your love. Pictures of the Song of Songs in the National Museum of the Biblical Embassy Marc Chagall in Nice . 4th edition. Echter Verlag, Würzburg 1990, ISBN 3-429-00857-3 .
  • Tschirch, Egon . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 4 : Q-U . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1958, p. 478 .
  • Tschirch, Egon. In: German biographical encyclopedia , volume 10. Saur, Munich [u. a.] 1999, ISBN 3-598-23170-9 , p. 107.

Web links

Commons : Song of Solomon  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Artmapp Spring 2017 : The Song of Songs in Colors , March 17, 2017, pp. 44–47
  2. ↑ Mecklenburgische Warte , August 5, 1922
  3. ↑ Berliner Tageblatt , March 3, 1922
  4. ↑ Mecklenburg. Güstrow daily newspaper , April 15, 1923
  5. ↑ Mecklenbg. Schwerin newspaper , September 30, 1922
  6. ↑ a b Rostocker Anzeiger , April 4, 1923
  7. ↑ a b c Mecklenburger Nachrichten Schwerin , March 2, 1924
  8. ^ Archives of the Hanseatic City of Rostock: death register. 1928 No. 972
  9. ^ Website Kunstmuseum Ahrenshoop; accessed on August 22, 2017.
  10. ^ Ostsee-Zeitung , February 28, 2020.
  11. ^ Website Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; accessed on March 17, 2017.
  12. ↑ Website KettererKunst; accessed on March 17, 2017.
  13. ^ Website Bröhan Museum; accessed on March 17, 2017.
  14. ^ Website Adolf Frahling - Mark Chagall's Song of Love; accessed on March 17, 2017.
  15. ^ Website of the Marc Chagall State Museum in Nice; accessed on March 17, 2017.
  16. ↑ Lockport Street Gallery website - Song of Songs of Solomon; accessed on March 17, 2017.