Two Riders on the Beach
| German: Zwei Reiter am Strand | |
 | |
| Artist | Max Liebermann |
|---|---|
| Year | 1901 |
| Medium | Oil on canvas |
| Dimensions | 71 cm x 91 cm |
Two Riders on the Beach (German: Zwei Reiter am Strand) is the title of two similar paintings by Max Liebermann. Both were painted in 1901 while Liebermann was on vacation in Scheveningen on the North Sea. The paintings are considered masterpieces of German impressionism, heavily influenced by the style of French impressionist painters Edouard Manet and Edgar Degas.
One of the paintings in the 1930s belonged to the collection of Jewish factory owner and art collector David Friedmann in Wroclaw, then Breslau, Silesia. It was seized by the Nazi authorities shortly after the anti-Jewish Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938 and became a part of the collection of Hildebrand Gurlitt. After World War II the painting was seized by Allied authorities along with other works from Gurlitt's collection, but was returned to Gurlitt when he convinced the authorities he was the rightful owner. It was contained in the 2012 Munich artworks discovery and was returned to the heirs of Friedmann by German authorities. The painting was sold at Sotheby's in June 2015.[1]
The other painting was part of a private collection in New York City before it was sold at Sotheby's in 2009. The new owner was again a private collector. The paintings are very similar; one difference is that the one that was part of Friedmann's collection shows both forelegs of the second horse.
References
- Carvajal, Doreen (May 22, 2015). "Painting Recovered From Gurlitt Trove to Be Auctioned in London". New York Times. New York City, New York. Retrieved May 23, 2015.
- "Max Liebermann: Zwei Reiter am Strand nach links". Galerie Ludorff.