Landscape with Woodpile

The painting “Landscape with Woodpile” from that year reveals the influence of the two great painters van Gogh and Matisse as well as the Rhineland Expressionists’ typical affinity to the countryside of the Lower Rhine region that led to the development of Nauen’s distinct visual expressive power. At first glance the viewer is overwhelmed by the daring composition of luminous colors. Only gradually does the impression of a landscape form. Nauen – like Matisse – makes use of autonomous color that, independently of the natural world, generates its own harmonies and resonances. With his partially transparent application of the paint the artist heightens the diversity of color nuances and refines the rhythm of the color tones. On the other hand, his lively brushwork, the quick, parallel application of the paint, the fleeting but assertively drawn lines and the use of large fields of color still show the influence of van Gogh and Cézanne.