Nolde was briefly a member of the Brucke group of German expressionist artists. Color was central to his art and he spent his life exploring its expressive force and emotional power. Living in relative isolation along the Baltic coast in northern Germany, he painted luminous flowers and gardens, as well as religious scenes. Although he scorned the decadence and corruption of the modern city, he was also drawn to its energy and the colorful spectacle of its nightlife. While spending the winter in Berlin in 1910-11, he created a group of drawings and watercolors inspired by the world of theater, masked balls, and cabarets. This sheet, which depicts a master of ceremonies, belongs to this group. Painted on very thin paper, it exemplifies Nolde's improvisational style and delight in bold color contrasts. The man's dark suit and the deep blue and purple background lend his yellow face the intensity and artificiality of a mask. "The general composition was almost always determined by a few structural lines," Nolde explained about his working method, "the colors then completed the picture, shaping themselves with absolute certainty into expressive forms."
Signed at lower right, "Nolde".