Lot 234: MAURYCY GOTTLIEB (POLISH 1856-79) SCENE FROM NATHAN THE WISE

signed oil on canvas 32.2 by 25.2 cm. Painted in 1877, this lot is one of a small series of studies in Grisaille that Gottleib painted as illustrations to Lessing's dramatic poem Nathan the Wise, which, though set in the distant past, condemns the brand of religious intolerance that had affected Gottlieb and his generation. Nehama Guralnik considers that these works "stand out for their freshness, their light touch and animation. and the dramatic juxtaposition of figures" (op.cit. Guralnik p.56). For other Grisaille studies in the series see Guralnik, pp. 142-145. nos. 26, 27, 28 & 29. PROVENANCE Dr. Rudolf Beres, Cracow EXHIBITED Cracow National Museum, Gottleib Memorial Exhibition, 1932, no. 57. LITERATURE Sofia Solthis. Koeznik Krakowski. 1977. Maurycy Gottlieb, illustrated.