Leo Putz

(Meran 1869–1940)
Sommerfrische (Summer vacation), 1901, signed Leo Putz, oil on canvas, 89 x 80 cm, framed

Provenance:
Gertraud Luberich, Munich
Elsbeth Jäger (1911-2002), Munich (acquired there)
Private collection, Germany

Listed and illustrated:
Helmut Putz, Leo Putz. Werkverzeichnis in zwei Bänden, vol. II, cat. rais. no. 209, ill.; vol. I, full page ill., p. 59

Literature:
“Jugend. Münchener Wochenschrift“, 1911, no. 37, p. 985, full page ill.


1901 marked the beginning of Leo Putz’s impressionistic phase. He had rented a new studio at Pettenkofenstraße 35 in Munich, met his future wife Frieda Blell in January, and mingled within the progressive Munich art society. This positive and cheerful underlying mood is particularly palpable in the paintings from these years.

In the fall of 1901, he spent an extended period in Seeon, a picturesque town located on the northern shore of Lake Chiemsee. “Frl. Luberich”, his preferred model at the time, accompanied him and became the main subject of the ten paintings created there, including the present one titled “Sommerfrische.”

This old term for a relaxing summer retreat perfectly encapsulates the depiction: A lady sits in the soothing shade of an arbor, with warm sunbeams casting scattered but gentle spots of light on the leaves and the white-covered table. Dreamily, the young woman rests on her arm, embodying the feeling of a pleasant, unfolding afternoon.

From this year onward, Putz applied his characteristic broad brush­strokes, soaked in rich colors that intensify through complementary contrast.