Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

George Von Hoesslin
Lilith and the Snake, Oil on canvas femme fatale mythical portrait, Signed

About the Item

Oil on canvas, signed lower left Image size: 16 x 15 3/4 inches (40.5 x 40 cm) Original gilt frame Provenance From the estate of the prominent art collector Leon Zielinski This is a painting of the mythic figure Lilith. Born by the hand of the Creator, and shaped from impure clay, which influenced her demonic nature, she is punished and condemned to see her offspring die. Thirsty for revenge, she takes the form of the snake of temptation and incites Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Abel is also a victim of Lilith’s perversity as she leads Caïn to commit fratricide. Here, Lilith appears in all of her sensuality as she stares directly at the snake that is twisted firmly around her - a snake that she does not fear, and whose form, according to Jewish mythology, she takes to pervert her victims. The snake coiled around her makes them both appear as one, the line where one ends and the other begins is blurred. Her luminous and milky skin detaches from the background and focuses our attention entirely on her fatal beauty. The juxtaposition of the scaly snake wrapped around Lilith's luminous flesh emphasises the physical difference between the two. Far from the religious depiction of the demoness, the artist then offers a nearly provocative image by depicting the perfect mix between calm and sensuality for such a sinful figure. This subject was also famously explored by the Pre-Raphaelites in such works as the 1887 painting by the artist John Collier and the 1868 poem by Dante Gabriel Rossetti entitled 'Lilith, or Body's Beauty'. George von Hoesslin George von Hoesslin came from an aristocratic Augsburg background. He grew up in the United States, where he trained as a merchant. However he moved back to Germany in 1871 to enroll at the Academy of Art in Munich. Rapidly disillusioned with the teaching methods of the Academy, he broke off his studies, determined to further his skills independently. He visited Italy for the first time in 1875. Munich was to remain his permanent base – it was here that he would produce most of his finished paintings. Over the following forty years he made extended annual trips to Italy. He rented a studio in Rome which he kept on until 1911. The city was to provide an important source of artistic stimuli. He also developed an increasing interest in landscape. He travelled widely throughout Italy, often on lengthy study trips by bicycle. Landscape remained his chief interest throughout his artistic career. Hoesslin’s lifelong output of history paintings, allegorical subjects and portraits provided him with a regular source of income and secured public recognition of his art at major exhibitions. However his real talents lay in landscape painting. He produced a large body of studies sur le motif which served as the basis for monumental landscapes worked up later in the studio. Many of these compositions are devoid of figures. Titles like The Rock of Medusa and Homeric Coastline, with their references to classical literature, underline his intention not to achieve topographical accuracy but to conjure up mysterious Böcklinesque associations with the myths and legends of antiquity. Even in a non-imaginary or real landscape like the View of the Villa Spinola in the Bay of Genoa topographical accuracy is subordinated to a contemplative, almost poetic mood of melancholy.
  • Creator:
    George Von Hoesslin (1851 - 1923, German, American)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 16 in (40.64 cm)Width: 14 in (35.56 cm)
  • More Editions & Sizes:
    1 of 1Price: $18,842
  • Medium:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    London, GB
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU52413384702
More From This SellerView All
  • Portrait of a Gentleman
    Located in London, GB
    Oil on canvas Image size: 17 x 23 1/2 inches (43 x 60 cm) Contemporary William Kent hand made frame
    Category

    18th Century Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Portrait of Herbert Fisher, Mid-19th Century Oil Painting, Original Watts Frame
    By George Frederic Watts
    Located in London, GB
    Oil on canvas c.1855 - 1860 Image size: 19 x 14 inches (48.25 x 37.25 cm) Original Watts frame The Sitter Herbert William Fisher (1826 - 1903) was a British historian, best known for his 'Considerations on the Origin of the American War' (1865). Fisher was tutor to the future King Edward VII, and served as Private Secretary to the 5th Duke of Newcastle. in 1863 he became Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales, his former pupil, before being appointed to the position of Vice-Warden of the Stannaries in 1870. One of his daughters, Adeline, married Ralph Vaughan Williams. George Frederick Watts Watts (1817 - 1904) was a British painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. He is known to have said 'I paint ideas, not things'. Watts became famous in his lifetime for his allegorical works, such as 'Hope' and 'Love and Life' in which the emotions and aspiration life were intended to be represented in a universal symbolic language. Watts was born in Marylebone in central London on the birthday of George Frederic Handel (after whom he was named), to the second wife of a poor piano-maker. He showed artistic promise very early, learning sculpture from the age of 10 with William Behnes, starting to study devotedly the Elgin Marbles (later writing "It was from them alone that I learned") and then enrolling as a student at the Royal Academy Schools at the age of 18. He first exhibited at the Academy in 1837, with a picture of "The Wounded Heron" and two portraits, but his attendance at the Academy was short-lived, and his further art education was confined to personal experiment and endeavour, guided by a constant appeal to the standard of ancient Greek sculpture. He also began his portraiture career, receiving patronage from his close contemporary Alexander Constantine Ionides, who later came to be a close friend. In 1849 the first two of the allegorical compositions which form the most characteristic of the artist's productions were exhibited—"Life's Illusions," an elaborate presentment of the vanity of human desires, and "The people that sat in darkness," turning eagerly towards the growing dawn. In 1850 he first gave public expression to his intense longing to improve the condition of humanity in the picture of "The Good Samaritan" bending over the wounded traveller; this, as recorded in the catalogue of the Royal Academy, was "painted as an expression of the artist's admiration and respect for the noble philanthropy of Thomas Wright, of Manchester," and to that city he presented the work. From the late 1840s onward he painted many portraits in France and England, some of which are described below. Notable pictures of the same period are “Sir Galahad...
    Category

    1850s Victorian Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Portrait of Thomas Cooper Gotch, 19th Century Oil Painting
    Located in London, GB
    Oil on canvas on board Image size: 7 x 5¼ inches (18 x 13.5 cm) Framed This portrait of Thomas Gotch is by his lifelong friend and confidante, Jane Ross, whom he met at Heatherley’s...
    Category

    1880s English School Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Portrait of a Lady, 17th Century Flemish Oil Old Masters
    By Jacob Huysmans
    Located in London, GB
    Jacob Huysmans Flemish 1633 - 1696 Portrait of a Lady Oil on canvas Image size: 49 x 40 ¼ inches Gilt frame Huysmans was born in Antwerp and came to England during the reign of Charles II where he became one of the fashionable painters of the court.. The diarist Samual Pepys noted the artist as capable of a more exact likeness than Lely. Certainly the diarist records that by August 1664 in the circle of Queen Catherine...
    Category

    17th Century Old Masters Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil, Acrylic

  • Portrait of William Ewart Gladstone
    Located in London, GB
    Oil on canvas Image size: 10 x 30 1/4 inches (25.5 x 77 cm) Original gilt Watts frame This is a head and shoulders portrait of William Ewart Gladstone painted after a photograph tak...
    Category

    19th Century Naturalistic Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • The Musician
    Located in London, GB
    This head and shoulders portrait is an outstanding example of the breadth, force and beauty of this artist's pictorial manner and abilities. This captivating portrait features a musi...
    Category

    Late 17th Century Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like
  • Island of Broken Toys (diptych)
    Located in Burlingame, CA
    'Island of Broken Toys' 2019, a diptych contemporary oil on canvas painting by Tamera Avery, whose paintings are created with wit and wisdom. Avery's work...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Cotton Canvas, Oil

  • Oil Painting / Photorealism / Figurative Art / Human Figure /Museum
    By Bruce Adams
    Located in Buffalo, NY
    Bruce Adams was a painter, art educator, and writer. Born in Buffalo, N.Y., in 1952, he received a B.S. in 1976 and an M.A. in 1983 from Buffalo State College. Adams’s work is includ...
    Category

    1980s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • Men portrait
    By Giovanni Maria delle Piane dit Mulinaretto (Genoa 1670 - Monticelli d´Ongina 1745)
    Located in BELEYMAS, FR
    Giovanni Maria DELLE PIANE, known as IL MULINARETTO (Genoa, 1660 – Monticelli d'Ongina, 1745) Portrait of a man Oil on oval canvas H. 108 cm; L. 83 cm Proven...
    Category

    1730s Italian School Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • [Bruce Sargeant (1898-1938)] Five Gymnasts in Training
    By Mark Beard
    Located in New York, NY
    Oil on canvas Signed in red, u.r. $16,000.00 + framing This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. “Bruce Sargeant is a mythic figure in the modern art movement...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Realist Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

  • ://_WEEN_X
    Located in Los Angeles, CA
    MADSTEEZ : Mark Paul Deren ://_WEEN_X 96 x 72 inches Oil and spray paint on canvas This piece is unique Signed by artist Unframed Madsteez Mark Paul ...
    Category

    2010s Street Art Portrait Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil, Spray Paint

  • Framework of Our Humanity - Large Multi-Portrait Portrait Mosaic, Oil on Panel
    By Bruno Surdo
    Located in Chicago, IL
    A mosaic of individual portraits is combine into the large scale piece entitled the "Framework of our Humanity". Each gray scale portrait is done in painstaking detail portraying a multitude of what make each of us unique yet surprisingly the same. Bruno Surdo, trained classically, brings a modern twist to portraiture. Bruno Surdo Framework of Our Humanity oil on panel 98h x 77w in 248.92h x 195.58w cm BRS081 Bruno A. Surdo b. Chicago, 1963 EXHIBITIONS 2021 Ethos + Truth, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2020 Realities, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2018 Liberation, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Blood Sport, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Art on Paper 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Pier 36, New York, NY SOFA Chicago 2018, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL 2017 POP!ARAZZI, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL Coming Attractions, Gallery Victor Armendariz, Chicago, IL 2015 SOFA Chicago 2015, Ann Nathan Gallery, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Allegories, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2014 Bruno Surdo: Respond, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Modern Metaphors, Rockford Art Museum, Rockford, IL 2013 Bruno Surdo: Revelations, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Vice + Virtue, Northern Illinois University Museum of Art 2012 Contemporary Realism Biennial, Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN 2011 Bruno Surdo, University of St. Francis School of Creative Arts, Fort Wayne, IN Uncensored, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2010 Art Chicago 2010, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2009 Art Chicago 2009, Ann Nathan Gallery, Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 2007 Bruno Surdo, Art Institute of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN 2006 Context/Content: Making Meaning with the Figure, University of Arkansas, Conway, AR Creative Imaginings, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile, AL Bruno Surdo: Cycles, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2005 Art Chicago 2005, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2004 Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2004, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Group Show, Arcadia Gallery, New York, NY Drawings VII, Koplin Del Rio Gallery, West Hollywood, CA Armory Show, New York Armory, New York, NY 2003 Paintings & Drawings, College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL The Art Show, New York, NY Bruno Surdo: New Work, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2003, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2003-10 International Show of Contemporary Artists, Chicago Art Open, Chicago, IL 2002 Bruno Surdo: Perception of Appearance, Frye Museum, Seattle, WA Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Richard M. Daley Center, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Transcendence, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Art Chicago 2002, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL Tragedy, Memory, & Honor, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR 1998 Evanston and Vicinity Artists, Evanston Art Center, Evanston, IL 1996 Bruno Surdo: A Personal View, University of Wisconsin, Kenosha, WI 1995 Bruno Surdo: Recent Works, College of Lake County, IL AIDS in Our Society, Loyola University, Chicago, IL Bruno Surdo: Life, Struggle, and Hope, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL 2001 Magic Vision, Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR Bruno Surdo: Dualities of Life, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1999 Group Show, Ann Nathan Gallery, Chicago, IL 1998 Group Exhibition, Fine Arts Building Gallery, Chicago, IL 1995 Spiritual Inquiries, Struve Gallery, Chicago, IL 1994 Recent Works, The 14th Annual Juried Exhibition for Lake County Artists, Grayslake, IL Go Figure, Figurative Works on Paper, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, IL SELECTED COLLECTIONS The Re-Birth of Venus, Temporary Loan, Fort Wayne Museum of Art Arkansas Art Center, Little Rock, AR College of Lake County, Greyslake, IL Flashpoint Academy, Chicago IL John Robert Wiltgen Design Shoemaker Ruud Collection Julie & Thomas Danilek Michael Vozzella and Mike Silver Benjamin Fernandez Tom Braake Betsy Colburn Michael Diemand & Lor LaRose Michael Staab & Kathy Brock Bruce Leep Frank Tzurect Mary Foley Rosalyn Carlson Mimmy Turney Janet Long Halstead Billy Hunt Carol Galli Myles Kerrigan Honorable & Mrs. Edwin Berman Theodore Gage Northrop Art Museum Past Present & Future Company Dr. James & Peggy Kemmler Salvatore Monastero Nix & Virginia Lauridsen Joel Miller David & Marlene Zerkel Ann & Andy Abel Claudia Rush Marc Miller Leonard Goldberg Lawrence Pucci Howard Tullman Collection Susan & Manny Kramer James Rinnert Richar Interiors Michael & Nancy Colt Khalid Altijir Dr. Joe Grodman Beryl & Jack Gore Larry Wolf & Eric Naegle Chuck Wolandi Jack Schwab & David Sandelin Thomas Kaczmarek Marti Dinerstein Craig & Michael Golden...
    Category

    21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Figurative Paintings

    Materials

    Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All