German/American, 1905-2000 Composition, 1950 Signed and dated Moller-50 (lr); inscribed as titled on the stretcher Oil on canvas 28 1/4 x 36 inches (71.8 x 91.4 cm) Provenance: Herbert Benevy Gallery, New York (Framed 36 x 45 inches) Some spots of soiling, would benefit from a cleaning. Frame rubbing with wear along the edges, including two small holes in canvas beneath the signature (concealed when framed).
Hans Moller (American 1905 - 2000), abstract lithograph, signed and dated '87, numbered 31/100, 22 1/2" x 17 1/4", frame - 29" x 23 1/2". Competitive in-house shipping is available for this lot.
Hans Moller Cobalt Violet 1956 oil on canvas 30 h x 24 w in (76 x 61 cm) Signed and titled to verso 'Cobalt Violet Hans Moller'. Signed and dated to lower right 'Moller 56'. This work will ship from Lambertville, New Jersey.
Work is titled "Near Lobster Cove." Gallery label to reverse: Midtown Galleries, New York, New York. Provenance: Tupperware Brands Corporate Collection, Orlando, Florida, acquired 1977.
Hans Moller Pennsylvania, New York / Germany, (1905 - 2000) Floating Mist, 1967 watercolor on paper signed and dated lower right. Label verso: Midtown Galleries, A.D. Gruskin, Director, NY. Biography from the Archives of askART: The following article is from the June 2008 issue of The Atlantic Times. Chased Into A Paradise of Color Hans Moller was a German-born artist who thrived in the United States but was virtually unknown in Germany - By Nadia Hassani The prolific painter created hundreds of works during his time across the Atlantic. He has yet to be discovered in his homeland. Of the many artists who fled Germany after 1933, Hans Moller was one of the most fortunate. Not only was he able to immigrate to the United States but also to quickly establish himself. And what a prolific exile it was. In the 64 years between his arrival in the United States and his death in 2000, Moller created hundreds of oil paintings, watercolors, collages and drawings. Since the 1940s, Moller's works have been part of the permanent collections at major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. All this time, however, Moller has remained a blank spot on Germany's artistic landscape. Moller was born in Wuppertal in 1905. From 1919 to 1927, he attended Kunstgewerbeschule Wuppertal-Barmen, the local arts and crafts school, at night while working as a bricklayer by day. He then studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin and became a graphic artist. It was in Berlin that Moller met Helen Rosenblum, who was Jewish and training to be a dietitian. They married in 1933 and fled Germany three years later. Upon arriving in New York City in 1936, Moller had but a few dollars in his pocket. Yet, within a week, he secured a job as a graphic designer at the leading advertising firm, Lord & Thomas. Art was his after-work hobby until his first solo exhibition at the prestigious Bonestell Gallery in 1942. More than 25 solo exhibitions followed, one almost every year in Manhattan galleries in the 1940s and 1950s. Every few years, Moller changed galleries, and almost every time, this was accompanied by a change in style. Frequent and positive reviews of his exhibitions by The New York Times and other newspapers, and the selling out of almost all of his exhibitions, emboldened him to experiment. During his first years in the United States, he worked in the expressionist style using muted, turbid grays, browns and blacks. Catalyzed by New York's progressive art scene, it did not take Moller long to break away from his European past and start his passionate experimentation with color that would last a lifetime. Abstractionism, surrealism, cubism, pointilism, fauvism - traces of all of these movements have been detected in Moller's oeuvre. His many self-portraits, all of which show a good amount of self-irony, also chronicle his changing styles over the years. During Moller's abstract phase in the 1950s, his gallery at the time, Grace Borgenicht, which also organized shows of Max Ernst and Max Beckmann, led Moller to a new medium: stained glass. His colorful designs with energetic black outlines were inspired by - and compared to - the work of Henri Matisse, whom Moller admired. While Moller and his wife mingled with New York's avant-garde art scene in the 1940s and 1950s, Moller remained Moller, never associating with a particular group. All the while, collectors eagerly absorbed his art. Moller said that the abstract expressionist Mark Rothko had told him that he would be ready to sell an entire year's production for $5,000. At the time, Moller's works sold for $500 to $1,200 each. In 1959, the Mollers bought a summer cottage on tiny Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine with spectacular views of the surging sea. Here Moller did studies and painted watercolors that he would execute in oil when back in New York City. Tam's Garden, a rendering of a house owned by a fellow artist, is one of the many examples where Moller painted the same subject in different variations. Sea and Island, a 1959 painting that is owned by the Von-der-Heydt Museum in Moller's native Wuppertal, is the lone work held by a German museum. The New York Times art critic John Canaday called Moller's 1973 solo exhibition at Midtown Galleries, "the happiest roomful of pictures in town. With bright, clear colors and a prancing brush, Mr. Moller describes skies, lakes, gardens and stretches of countryside as if he had just discovered them and wanted to let the rest of us in on something joyous." The pillar of Moller's entire artistic life and career was his wife, Helen, whom he lovingly referred to as "Leni." For 64 years, she was his model, source of inspiration and business manager. She corresponded on his behalf with friends and art dealers, and protected him from disturbances and intrusions, making sure that he had the environment he needed to create his art. Moller's line drawing for their 60th wedding anniversary card tells it all: The couple is joined at the torso like Siamese twins. In 1995, on Moller's 90th birthday, the German art collector Torsten Bröhan organized the first exhibition of Moller's work in Germany in his gallery in Düsseldorf. It prompted Helen Moller to write in a letter to friends: "I hope Mr. Moller is not pining away for German recognition. He'd have a long wait." Still, she notes, "had he stayed in Germany, even discounting his Jewish wife, his artistic development would have been vastly different. And the joyousness expressed in his paintings is a direct outgrowth of the freedom he experienced here. He has long stopped being a 'German' artist - he most likely is a world spirit - and that could have never developed in Germany." After three decades in the same mid-town apartment, the Mollers increasingly worried about street crime and moved to Allentown, Pennsylvania. n a modest apartment filled with works of contemporary artist friends and his own, Moller continued to play chess, his other passion, and to work until his death in 2000, preceded by Helen's three years earlier. The Allentown Art Museum was subsequently given the entire content of Moller's studio and plans to recreate it in a proposed new museum wing. Right now, the museum is trying to raise funds for this project. In Germany, the discovery of Moller, who had been "chased into paradise," as the 20th-century art historian Carl-Wolfgang Schümann said at the opening of the artist's first and only exhibition in Germany, is also a work in the making.
HANS MOLLER (1905 - 2000, GERMAN/AMERICAN) Untitled, (Card Tower). Gouache and pastel on illustration board, 1947. Signed, Moller, and dated, 47, lower right. Inscribed, To Henry from Hans Dec, 47, lower right. 489x381 mm; 19 1/4x15 inches.
HANS MOLLER Gray Coast. Oil on canvas, 1959. 410x760 mm; 16x30 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right recto, and signed, dated, titled and inscribed "#221" in pencil on the stretcher bar verso. Original Kulicke, New York, wood frame. Provenance: Acquired from the artist; Otto Gerson Gallery, New York; Marlborough Gallery, New York, with the label on the frame back.
HANS MOLLER (GERMAN-AMERICAN 1905-2000) Violets, 1949 oil on canvas 76 x 61 cm (29 7/8 x 24 in.) signed and dated lower right PROVENANCE Kleeman Galleries January 1950 Acquired at the above by Eloise Spaeth, noted art collector and patron of American art Thence by descent in the family CONDITION Observed in frame, the painting appears in age-appropriate condition. Overall very fine and stable craquelure, most visible against the darker and shaded areas. Minor discoloration to the corners. A visible horizontal line across the top edge due to the stretcher. Inspection under UV shows a single spot of retouching to the lower right of the vase to the mustard yellow ground. framed dimensions: 96 x 82 cm (37 3/4 x 32 1/4 in.) N.B. All lots are sold in as-is condition at the time of sale. Please note that any condition statement regarding works of art is given as a courtesy to our clients in order to assist them in assessing the condition. The report is a genuine opinion held by Shapiro Auctions and should not be treated as a statement of fact. The absence of a condition report or a photograph does not preclude the absence of defects or restoration, nor does a reference to particular defects imply the absence of any others. Shapiro Auctions, LLC., including its consultants and agents, shall have no responsibility for any error or omission.
HANS MOLLER Blue Coast. Oil on canvas, 1959. 408x765 mm; 16x30 1/4 inches. Signed and dated in oil, lower right recto. Ex-collection Otto Gerson, New York; Marlborough-Gerson Gallery, New York; Marlborough Gallery, New York; private collection, New York. Moller (1905-2000) was born in Germany and emigrated to the United States in 1936 where he worked as an artist and graphic designer. In the 1940s Moller was among the many artists who turned to abstraction. Moller's version of Abstract Expressionism was rooted in the spiritualism of color, much like Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944). During the late 1950s Moller divided his time between New York and the artist colony on Monhegan Island, Maine. The island provided a natural, dramatic backdrop for Moller's luminous, richly-colored paintings of patterned and abstract landscapes.
DESCRIPTION: Hans Moller (Pennsylvania/New York 1905-2000). Watercolor on paper. Street in Autumn. Signed lower right. Matted in gold painted wood frame. MEASUREMENTS: 17-1/2" high x 23" wide. Overall with frame 23" high x 31" wide. CONDITION: No defects noted.
Hans Moller (1905-2000) Bullfight , 1947. Gouache on paper. Signed and dated LR. Image size H 25", W 21-1/2". Framed size H 33", W 28-1/2". Excellent original condition. Please refr to this link for a high-res image. https://www.dropbox.com/s/sup4eta1r80elr6/1069015_1.jpg?dl=0
Hans Moller German/American, 1905-2000 Wild Irises, 1968 Signed Moller and dated 68 (lr); inscribed as titled on the stretcher bar Oil on canvas 19 1/4 x 24 inches Provenance: Midtown Galleries, New York
HANS MOLLER (PA/NY/NJ, 1905-2000) "Forest Interior #686", oil on canvas, signed lower right and dated '74, titled on label from Midtown Galleries of 11 East 57th Street, NYC, plus a label from Hobe Sound Gallery North of Portland, ME with a price of $12,000. Housed in an oak slat frame, OS: 51 1/2" x 39 1/2", SS: 50" x 38". Good condition.
Hans Moller German/American, 1905-2000 Shells, 1949 Signed Moller and dated 49 (lr); inscribed Hans Moller 1949 and as titled on the stretcher Oil on canvas 12 x 14 inches C Property from a Prominent Philadelphia Collector
Hans Moller (American 1905-2000) Monhegan Coast Maine 1967 watercolor on paper signed lower right Ex Notheast Auctions, Ex Midtown gallery. Old label preserved reverse. 13 x 16"
Hans Moller German/American, 1905-2000 The Wharf, 1960 Signed Moller (lr), signed Moller and dated 1960 and inscribed as titled on the reverse Oil on canvas 28 1/8 x 36 inches C
Hans Moller American, 1905-2000 Blue Anemonies, 1951 Signed Moller and dated 51 (ll) Gouache on paper 18 x 14 inches Provenance: Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York C
Hans Moller German/American, 1905-2000 Pinecone, 1953 Signed Moller and dated 53 (lr), signed Hans Moller, dated 1953, inscribed #108 and as titled on the stretcher Oil on canvas 32 x 24 inches Provenance: Grace Borgenicht Gallery, New York C
Hans Moller Am. 1905-2000 Whitehead, Monhegan Signed and dated "Moller 92" l.r. Watercolor 18 x 24 in. 45.7 x 61.0 cm Property of a collector, Newton, Massachsuetts
Hans Moller (American, 1905-2000), "Jubilant," 1957, oil on canvas, signed and dated lower right and verso, canvas: 30"h x 40"w, overall (with frame): 31"h x 41"w
Oil on canvas Housed in a partial silver gilt wood frame with linen liner Signed lower right "Moller 67" Midtown Galleries label to verso SIZE: 30" x 40". Overall: 37-1/2" x 47-1/2" CONDITION: Very good 9-90299
WATERCOLOR - 'View from our Window with Moon' by Hans Moller (PA/NY/Germany, 1905-2000), signed lr and dated '82, numbered 877, Midtown Payson and Kobe Sound, FL labels verso, a pointillist rendering of a big sky over pines and ocean, in gold box frame, linen mat, glazed, SS: 17 1/2" x 23 1/2", OS: 25 1/4" x 31 1/4", fine condition.
Hans Moller American, 1905-2000 Silver Gray, 1956 Signed Moller and dated 56 (lr), signed Hans Moller, dated 1956 and inscribed as titled on the stretcher Oil and cloth collage on canvas 26 x 20 inches
Hans Moller (American, 1905-2000) Flowers by the Sea, 1962 oil on canvas signed Moller and dated (lower right); titled and dated (verso) 40 x 30 inches.
Hans Moller (American, 1905-2000) Ocean Path, 1962 oil on canvas signed Moller and dated (lower right); titled and dated (verso) 28 1/4 x 35 1/4 inches.
Hans Moller (American, 1905-2000) Field flowers signed and dated 'moller-48' (lower right) and signed, inscribed and dated 'FIELD FLOWERS/HANS MOLLER/1948' (on the reverse) oil on canvas 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 61 cm.)
HANS MOLLER (American b. 1905) " SPRING TIME " signed and dated " 71 " , also signed dated and titled on stretcher, oil on canvas 36 x 45 in. PROVENANCE: Midtown Galleries, New York
