Assuan (Egyptian Series)

Max Thalmann

In the early 1930s Max Thalmann, on the heels of a successful venture to the U.S., set down his woodcarving tools and took a trip to Egypt to glean inspiration from the climate that was so different from his homeland, Germany. He spent a great deal of time in Aswan (spelled here “Assuan”), located in south Egypt on the northeast bank of the Nile River at the first cataract. It was here that he sketched the daily goings-on of the bustling market city and the daily lives of its residents. In this richly hued gouache painting, made soft with the addition of oil pastels, Thalmann captures a lone, barefoot woman in everyday garb looking matter of factly at the viewer. The colors he has chosen for the ground, architecture, and sky capture the brightness of the land.

Thalmann’s career as a painter would soon come to an end as the Second World War began to take root in Germany and across Europe. He abandoned much of his exploration of exciting - and controversial - genres such as Expressionism as the new government began persecuting such styles as “degenerate”. His trip to Egypt was arguably his final, and in some ways defining, excursion.

The ancient city of Aswan is one of the hottest and driest in Egypt, thus its position along the Nile has been key to its longevity. Coincidentally, it’s sister city in the United States is Sonoma, neighbor to the city where our gallery is located.