Arild Rosenkrantz (Copenhagen 1870-1964 Ronde)
Temple Ruins in Twilight [Tempelruine im Dämmerlicht]
circa 1915
pastel on paper
39,2 x 52,2 cm
lower right signed: "Arild Rosenkrantz"
The Daulton Collection
"The ruins of a once magnificent temple are in an exposed position in front of snow-covered peaks. Milky blue and glistening white light play around the building, while the mountain range in the background is bathed in rosé. In this ethereal work, Rudolf Steiner's color theory unfolds, with which Rosenkrantz was familiar at least since his meeting with the anthroposophist in London in 1913. While Rosenkrantz chose the darker color palette of the Pre-Raphaelites in his early works, he now developed a completely new painting technique in continuation of Steiner's ideas. The brilliant colors red, yellow and blue and their derivatives determine the subject of the picture. In this way, Rosenkrantz hoped to be able to reveal through painting the pure soul-spiritual existence obscured by matter. The roots of this spiritual approach to art lie in the biography of Arild Rosenkrantz. His mother, who had turned to spiritualism at an early age and was a well-known medium in Rome, encouraged her son to draw automatically from an early age. Later she brought him together in Paris with the occultist and pioneer of the French Rosicrucian movement Sar Péladan, in whose "Salon de la Rose Croix" Arild Rosenkrantz exhibited from 1892-1894. In 1898 the artist moved to London, where he became a member of the Anthroposophical Society in 1912." B
