Lot number 2349 - Auction 150
RENNTAG AUF DER NEUSSER RENNBAHN

GUSTAV MARX 1855 Hamburg - 1928 Dusseldorf RACE DAY AT THE NEUSS RACETRACK Oil on canvas. 43 x 72 cm (f. 56 x 85 cm). Signed lower right. Framed. Gustav Marx is regarded as one of the best-known Dusseldorf painters of horses, animals, and landscapes. He was particularly fascinated by the world of equestrian sport and its affluent bourgeois clientele. At the beginning of his artistic career, he initially worked as a lithographer in Dusseldorf, as he could not afford formal training in painting. Thanks to a scholarship awarded in 1874, he was able to study under Christian Kroner (1838-1911) and Wilhelm Camphausen (1818-1885). Strongly influenced by his teachers-especially in landscape and historical painting-he taught himself the anatomically accurate depiction of animals through extensive drawing studies. His early work was shaped by the late Romantic tradition, which later transitioned through a naturalistic phase into elements of Impressionism. A dynamic trotting race unfolds before a cheering crowd. The stands of the Neuss racetrack, built only in 1875, are filled to the last seat with elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen. The scene is framed by houses and the St. Quirinus Minster, above which fluttering flags add a festive touch.