Emil Nolde * (Nolde, Schleswig 1867-1956 Seebüll) Flowers (red poppy and white lilies), c. 1930/35, signed Nolde, watercolor on japan paper, 33.5 x 46 cm, framed Photo-Certificate: Prof. Dr. Martin Urban, Seebüll, 22 November 1988 Provenance: Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia, since the 1960’s Emil Nolde looked for his first flower motifs in his parents’ garden, where he initially tried to capture the beauty of the plants using oil paint. Through his later painting technique with watercolour, Nolde succeeded in transferring the intense and contrasting hues of the plants onto paper. His use of Japan paper from 1912 onwards finally established his own technique within watercolour painting. The wet-on-wet technique created an interlocking of colours, which was deliberately chosen as a design device to illustrate the dynamics of the plants in the garden. Nolde’s chosen blaze of colour creates the attraction that he himself felt in his numerous flower still-lifes and garden paintings, and so the motif accompanied him continuously throughout his artistic career.