Oil on canvas.
82 x 118cm.
Monogrammed and dated lower right: S 53.
Inscriptions on verso: Peter Steinforth / “Abendlicher Hafen” / Galerie Springer / Berlin.

Steinforth was a pupil of Max Kaus, Cuno Fischer and the great German Expressionist painter, Schmitt-Rottluff. He first exhibited at the Berlin Kulterkollektiv in 1946 and later with the Cologne group Der Igel (the Porcupine). Emblematic of German Abstraction in the nineteen fifties, Steinforth’s work is found in distinguished private collections and in many German museums, including the Wallraff-Richartz in Cologne, the Landesmuseum, Darmstadt, the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, the Landesmuseum, Wiesbaden, and the museums in Aachen, Leverkusen, and Reklinghausen, among others.

The present canvas with its bold calligraphy and sustained colors was exhibited at the renowned Springer Gallery, Berlin, in 1953. A retrospective of Steinforth’s work is planned by the city of Darmstadt. It will coincide with the publication of his catalogue raisonné, in which Abendliche Hafen will be illustrated.