Bidspirit auction | Elk Eber (German, 1892–1941) –

Elk Eber (German, 1892–1941) – Portrait of Mr. Herman Balner (1930) - Dimensions: 80 x 60 cm Frame Dimensions: 100 x 78 Medium: Oil on canvas Signature & Date: Signed lower left ”Elk Eber 30” (1930) Condition Report: Physical defect (hole/tear) in the upper left section of the canvas (within the background). Fine network of age-related cracking (craquelure). Housed in its original wide wooden frame Artwork Description & Artistic Evaluation: An impressive and historically profound oil on canvas painting by the renowned German artist Elk Eber, executed in 1930. The artwork is a commissioned portrait depicting the subject, Mr. Herman Balner, in his youth. Balner is rendered as an elegant bourgeois gentleman of striking presence, dressed in a dark tailored suit, white shirt, and striped tie. He gazes directly and confidently at the viewer while holding a lit cigarette in his right hand, with a thin wisp of smoke rising toward an abstract blue-grey background. The work is captured in an expressive realism typical of the late Weimar Republic era, utilizing confident and broad brushstrokes particularly evident in the garment design and background texture. About the Artist & Historical Significance: Elk Eber (born Wilhelm Emil Eber) was one of the most prominent artists in Germany during the 1930s. He studied art history at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and subsequently completed his academic training at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich under the celebrated monumental master Franz von Stuck. Eber was an active early member of the Nazi Party and the SA (Stormtroopers), later becoming an official propaganda artist whose works were personally purchased by Adolf Hitler. Created in 1930, just prior to the party’s rise to power and before the artist pivoted to political propaganda, this painting represents the early, civilian portraiture phase of his career and stands as a piece of exceptional documentary and historical value. Provenance: The artwork benefits from an extraordinary and deeply significant historical family provenance. The painting depicts and originally belonged to Mr. Herman Balner, an esteemed Jewish carpet merchant and collector who commissioned this personal portrait from the artist in Germany in 1930. Upon Mr. Balner’s immigration to Israel, the painting was safely preserved as a cornerstone of his personal estate and family history. The artwork comes to the current auction directly from Balner's legal heirs in Israel, granting the piece absolute historical credibility alongside a powerful narrative of survival and cultural preservation.