Art Collections Online
Two Friends
EDZARD, Dietz (1893 - 1963)
Media: oil on canvas
Size: 55.3 x 45.7 cm
Acquired: 1963; Bequest; Margaret Davies
Accession Number: NMW A 3914
Collection: The Davies Sisters Collection
Edzard was born in Bremen and studied under Max Beckman. His first major exhibition was held in Berlin in 1916. After the First World War, he spent some years in Amsterdam and in the early 1930s settled in Paris. The composition of this painting recalls Degas's caf? scenes. The circus costume and melancholy androgyny of the figures is reminiscent of Picasso's early work. The cool colouring and dry surface texture intensifies the sense of introspective detachment. The grid pattern of the table and decorated sleeves heighten the blank pallor of the faces. Margaret Davies bought this painting in London in 1935.