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Period: 1910s
La Chapelle - Post Impressionist Figurative Oil by Ferdinand du Puigaudeau
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
Signed and dated post impressionist figurative oil on canvas by French painter Ferdinand du Puigaudeau. This beautiful and large work depicts dozens of churchgoers in traditional Bre...
Category
Post-Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Original U. S. Marines World War 1 antique recruiting poster, linen backed
Located in Spokane, WA
Original U. S. Marines enlistment antique poster. World War I recruitment poster by *Sidney H. Riesenberg* ranks among the most potent visual achievements of U.S. wartime art. Arch...
Category
American Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
1912 M. Campion original poster "Avion Monoplace" - early aviation
Located in PARIS, FR
In 1912, M. Campion introduced the original poster "Avion Monoplace," showcasing the innovation and excitement surrounding early aviation. The artwork featured a monoplane, a pioneer...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph, Paper
Early 20th century colorful seaside landscape pastel figures bench trees signed
Located in Milwaukee, WI
"Couple on Bench at the Beach" is an original pastel drawing on paperboard by Francesco Spicuzza. The artist signed the piece in the lower left. This drawing depicts two figures sitting on a bench in front of a body of water. The artist used mostly pastel colors for this piece.
6 7/8" x 9 7/8" art
18 1/2" x 21 3/8" frame
Francesco J. Spicuzza, born in Sicily on July 23, 1883, came to America at the age of 8. He supported himself as a fruit peddler until a newspaperman gave him $4 a week to go to school. He attended classes at the Milwaukee Art Students League, where he studied under Alexander Mueller. There he learned to paint in the then-fashionable "Munich School" technique, with detailed realism in heavy browns and grayed-out hues. Spicuzza completed eight grades in four years, and then in 1911, three businessmen advanced him enough money to allow him to study in New York under artist and teacher John Carlson. It was during this time that Spicuzza changed his style of painting, developing an impressionistic use of color, form and atmospheric renditions. After a period of grinding poverty, one of Spicuzza's pictures won a major New York competition. It was the first of 60 wins, both in the U.S. and Paris. He became a fashionable painter, and many of the leading collections have his work. Spicuzza's typical works were beach scenes, still life, landscapes and portraits done in pastels, oils, ink, charcoal and watercolors. Much of his work traced the history of Milwaukee in the early 1900s. He was probably best known for his scenes of women and children splashing in the waves...
Category
Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Paper, Pastel, Board
Portrait - Original Drawing in Pencil by Paul Charles Delaroche - 1910
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait is an original drawing in pencil on paper realized by Paul Charles Delaroche (1886-1914).
Hand-signed and dated on the lower left in pencil.
The state of preservation is v...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Pencil
Alte Deutsche Schwanke - Rare Book Illustrated by Max Unold - 1914
Located in Roma, IT
Alte Deutsche Schwanke is an original modern rare book illustrated by Max Unold (Memmingen, 1885 - Munich, 1964) in 1914.
Original First Edition. Limited edition of 800 numbered cop...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Paper
L'Asino, Art Magazine, Year 14, no. 51, 1915
Located in Roma, IT
L'Asino, Art Magazine, Year 14, no. 51, 1915is an original colorful illustrated Italian magazine with a satiric political scene.
Published on Sunday 19 Dicember 1915, in 4 pages, do...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Paper
Meenakshi Temple Madurai Tamil India 1913 Hindu Priest Sacred Elephant Oil Paint
Located in Rancho Santa Fe, CA
Andre Chéronnet Champollion
Meenakshi Temple Hindu Priest & Sacred Elephant Madurai, Tamil
Oil on canvas
Painting Dimensions: 36 x 28 inches
Framed Dimensions: 44.5 x 36.5 inches
Sig...
Category
Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Mein Weg mit dem Weib, plate 7
Located in Roma, IT
Drypoint and aquatint (brown ink) on cream paper.
Signed in pencil on the lower right margin. Titled and numbered in pencil on the lower left margin. Edition of 25 prints. From the s...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Aquatint, Drypoint
Ottokar Mascha Folio, plate 9: "Darmstadt Poster"by Joseph Maria Olbricht
By Joseph Maria Olbrich
Located in Palm Beach, FL
After JOSEPH MARIA OLBRICHT (1867-1908) DARMSTADT POSTER, 1901, (In Mascha, no. 9) One of the founding members of the Vienna Secession and a highly esteemed architect, Olbricht was c...
Category
Vienna Secession 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
Allotments - La Sargne - Post-Impressionist Oil, Landscape by Victor Charreton
Located in Marlow, Buckinghamshire
A charming oil on board circa 1910 by sought after Post-Impressionist painter Victor Charreton. Charreton was said to be the painter of colours and this piece, which depicts an allot...
Category
Post-Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Oil, Board
1917 original exhibition poster by M. Leroy La Guerre et les Humoristes
Located in PARIS, FR
The original poster by M. Leroy, titled "La Guerre et les Humoristes," serves as a poignant reflection of the intersection between art and the tumultuous events of World War I. Creat...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph, Paper, Linen
Their Heroism - China Ink By Adolfo Brayas Bruno - 1916
Located in Roma, IT
Their Heroism is an original drawing in China ink realized in 1916 by Adolfo Brayas Bruno.
Hand-signed and dated on the lower right.
With description on the lower and right margin ...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Ink
Forest idyll / - Soulmate -
Located in Berlin, DE
Rudolf Kaesbach (1873 Gladbach - 1955 Berlin), Forest idyll, around 1915. Bronze, gold and golden brown patina, with cast plinth, mounted on a marble base (5 cm high), total height 36 cm, dimensions of the bronze: 31 cm (height) x 17 cm (length) x 12 cm (width). Weight 4,6 kg, signed on the plinth "R.[udolf] KAESBACH".
- a few rubbed areas, overall in excellent condition for its age
- Soulmate -
The bronze sculpture depicts a young woman in an intimate exchange with a deer that accompanies her. The animal pauses to turn toward her, while the nude beauty slows her pace to look into the deer's eyes and tenderly caress it with her hand. The woman and the deer are in inner harmony. Even though her lips remain motionless, she speaks the language of the animal with which she is deeply connected.
The golden patina, which contrasts with the more naturalistic coloring of the deer, gives the young woman the appearance of a saint, even if she cannot be identified as such. At the same time, she evokes memories of Diana, the goddess of the hunt, or a nymph. But she lacks the ferocity. In her innocent naivety, she is more like a vestal virgin, who is not at home in the solitude of the forest. And yet, the young beauty, moving unclothed in the heart of nature, looks like a priestess with her hair tied up and a carefully carried bowl on her way to a sacred grove.
In order to open up the above-mentioned associations, Kaesbach deliberately designed the female figure in such a way that she cannot be identified as a specific person. He has created an allegory of natural femininity, characteristic of Art Nouveau, in which the deer is far more than a companion animal. It displays the same gracefulness as the young woman, and the inner resemblance between the two makes the deer appear as her other self. In animal terms, it embodies her inner being, which also gives the deer an allegorical character.
About the artist
Rudolf Kaesbach studied sculpture at the Hanau Academy and worked in a bronze foundry in Paris in 1900. In order to work as an independent artist, he opened a workshop in Düsseldorf, where he cast bronzes from models he designed. In 1902 he made his debut at the German National Art Exhibition in Düsseldorf. The following year Kaesbach went to the academy in Brussels. There he was inspired by contemporary Belgian sculpture, especially the work of Constantin Meunier. He moved to Berlin, where he opened a studio in the villa district of Grunewald and devoted himself to life-size marble sculptures and the design of bronzes. From 1911, he regularly presented his works at the major art exhibitions in Berlin, as well as in Düsseldorf and Malmö. Between 1936 and 1939, he also created models for the Rosenthal porcelain factory. From 1939 to 1944, Kaesbach was represented at the major German art exhibitions in Munich.
GERMAN VERSION
Rudolf Kaesbach (1873 Gladbach - 1955 Berlin), Waldidyll, um 1915. Gold und goldbraun patinierte Bronze mit gegossener Plinthe, auf einem Marmorsockel montiert (5 cm Höhe), Gesamthöhe 36 cm, Maße der Bronze: 31 cm (Höhe) x 17 cm (Länge) x 12 cm (Breite). Gewicht 4,6 kg, auf der Plinthe mit „R.[udolf] KAESBACH“ signiert.
- vereinzele beriebene Stellen, insgesamt in einem altersgemäß ausgezeichneten Zustand
- Seelenverwandtschaft -
Die Bronzeplastik veranschaulicht eine junge Frau im innigen Austausch mit einem sie begleitenden Reh. Das Tier hält inne, um sich zu ihr hochzuwenden, während die nackte Schönheit ihren Schritt verlangsamt, um dem Reh ebenfalls in die Augen zu schauen und es zärtlich mit der Hand zu liebkosen. Die Frau und das Reh sind in einem inneren Gleichklang. Auch wenn ihre Lippen unbewegt bleiben, spricht sie die Sprache des Tieres, mit dem sie auf eine tief empfundene Weise verbunden ist.
Die im Kontrast zur naturalistischeren Einfärbung des Rehs aufstrahlende goldfarbene Patina lässt die junge Frau wie eine Heilige erscheinen, auch wenn sich nicht als Heilige identifizierbar ist. Zugleich ruft sie Erinnerungen an die Jagdgöttin Diana oder eine Nymphe hervor. Dafür fehlt ihr allerdings die Wildheit. In ihrer unschuldigen Naivität gemahnt sie vielmehr an eine Vestalin, die freilich nicht in der Waldeinsamkeit zu Hause ist. Und doch wirkt die sich unbekleidet im Herzen der Natur bewegende junge Schönheit wie eine Priesterin, die sich mit hochgebundenem Haar und der vorsichtig getragenen Schale und dem Wege zu einem Heiligen Hain befindet.
Um die gennannten Assoziationen zu eröffnen, hat Kaesbach die Frauenfigur bewusst so gestaltet, dass sie nicht als konkrete Person identifizierbar ist. Damit hat er eine für den Jugendstil charakteristische Allegorie natürlicher Weiblichkeit geschaffen, bei der das Reh weit mehr als ein Begleittier ist. Es weist dieselbe grazile Anmut wie die junge Frau auf und der innere Gleichklag der beiden lässt das Reh als ihr anderen Ich erscheinen. Es verkörpert – ins Animalische übertragen - ihr inneres Wesen, wodurch auch dem Reh ein allegorischer Charakter zukommt.
zum Künstler
Rudolf Kaesbach studierte an der Akademie Hanau Bildhauerei und war im Jahr 1900 in einer Pariser Bronzegießerei tätig. Um sich als eigenständiger Künstler betätigen zu können, eröffnete er in Düsseldorf eine Werkstatt, in der er Bronzen nach selbstentworfenen Modellen goss. 1902 debütierte er auf der Deutschen Nationalen Kunstaustellung in Düsseldorf. Im Folgejahr ging Kaesbach an die Akademie nach Brüssel. Dort wurde er von der zeitgenössischen belgischen Bildhauerei, insbesondere vom Werk Constantin Meuniers, inspiriert. Zurückgekehrt zog er nach Berlin, wo er im Villenviertel Grunewald ein Atelier eröffnete und sich neben dem Entwurf für Bronzen der lebensgroßen Marmorbildhauerei widmete. Ab 1911 präsentierte er seine Werke regelmäßig auf den Großen Berliner Kunstausstellungen, aber auch in Düsseldorf und Malmö. Zwischen 1936 und 1939 fertigte er zudem Modelle für die Porzellan-Manufaktur Rosenthal an. Von 1939 bis 1944 war...
Category
Jugendstil 1910s Art
Materials
Bronze
$3,980 Sale Price
20% Off
Lacerba - Complete Collection - 69 issues
Located in Roma, IT
Original Magazine. Florence, (Printers: Tip. A. Vallecchi), Jan 1913-May 1915, 4°, (h. I: 350x250 mm: aa, II-III 370x270mm) 16 pp. per issue (8 in y. III) numbered progressively by year.
Complete collection (unbound) of the 69 issues of the famous fortnightly review (weekly in 1915) edited by Papini and Soffici.
Lacerba was an Italian literary review (fortnightly at first, then weekly) started by Giovanni Papini and Ardengo Soffici in 1913 In Florence. The title is taken from a 14th Century poem, Lacerba, by Cecco d’Ascoli, as well as the line, “Quinonsicantaal mondodellerane” (“Here we don’t sing to the world of frogs”), used as a slogan printed below the masthead. Many of the most famous futurists contributed to thereview,so that it became the principal vehicle for futurist ideas and graphics between 1913 and 1914. “The intensity of its presence, its luck and the range of its coverage, its polemical tone as well as the richness and scattershot breadth of its subject matter, its language and themes, and its articles and pictures, place it among Europe’s leading avant-garde publications alongside France’s Les Soirées de Paris, Germany’s Der Sturm and Blaue Reiter almanac...
Category
Futurist 1910s Art
Materials
Paper
Lapin assis, tête tournée, Sandoz, 1910's, bronze, animal, rabbits, rare proof
Located in Geneva, CH
Lapin assis, tête tournée, circa 1919-1921
Fondry Susse, Ed. 3/5 pcs
circa 1919-1921
Rare bronze proof with a brown patina
8.5 x 5.5 x 6.5 cm
Certificate of authenticity issued by th...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Bronze
Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Anne Lemans"
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East.
In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color.
SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920.
The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs has reintroduced the world to Walter Schnackenberg’s graphic genius and priceless ephemeral art from a lost era. Besides the museum world, designer Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most prodigious collectors of Schnackenberg. Flipping through the pages of Kostume, Plakate und Dekorationen, it becomes quite clear that Schnackenberg’s collection is ground zero at the crossroads of early modern fashion where the cult of celebrity meets up with dance, music, theater and cabaret, film and the graphic medium. Berlin and Munich under Germany’s Weimar Republic in the first quarter of the 20th century produced just the atmosphere to feed this burgeoning industry. Rising inflation sparked a recklessness to live large for the moment and heightened a desire for escapism. An influx of Indian and East Asian dancers and musicians added to the artsy bohemian cultural mix. A new decadence and tolerance resulted. Film boldly featured provocative subject matter. Cabarets became popular venues giving rise to the demi-monde in which people from all social stations mixed more freely in a thriving underground economy and culture where there was a blurring of boundaries and of social codes. Noted art historian and cultural doyen, Oskar Bie astutely observes in his introduction to Schnackenberg’s publication that what unites the images is fantasy and advertisement. Schnackenberg uses the eye as an instrument to brilliantly construct and convey this double message. His personages never directly confront the viewer. Their eyes gaze off in the distance like those of the screenplayer and film star Hedamaria Scholz in Schnackenberg’s “Die Rodelhexe” movie poster. Their eyes follow the path of a dance composition or become a transfixed and ogling male gaze such as the iconic 1911 Odeon Casino...
Category
Expressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
Militaries in Station - Lithograph on Paper - 1918
Located in Roma, IT
Militaries in Station is an original lithograph by the Italian artist, painter, and printmaker Anselmo Bucci.
Signed on the plate on the lower right.
In very good conditions.
The ...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
The Port of Newcastle Upon Tyne - British 1914 marine art oil painting
By Joseph Henry Kirsop
Located in Hagley, England
This lovely historically interesting British marine oil painting is by Newcastle artist Joseph Henry Kirsop. Painted in 1914, the location of the painting is the port of Newcastle up...
Category
Realist 1910s Art
Materials
Oil
$5,925 Sale Price
20% Off
Lapin, by Sandoz, rabbit, animal, sculpture, bronze, 1910's, swiss artist, cast
Located in Geneva, CH
Lapin, modèle 5, circa 1919-1921
Fondeur Susse
Bronze with brown patina
6.5 x 4.9 x 6.5 cm
Inscribed and foundry stamp : Ed.m.Sandoz, Susse Frères Editeurs
Certificate of authentici...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Bronze
TOD UND FRAU (DEATH AND WOMAN)
Located in Portland, ME
Kollwitz, Kathe. TOD UND FRAU (DEATH AND WOMAN). Knesebeck 107, State VII; Klipstein 103. Line etching, drypoint, sandpaper, soft ground with imprint of granulated tone paper and Zie...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Drypoint, Etching
La Divorcee Original Vintage Poster by Georges Dorival French Operetta 1911
Located in Boca Raton, FL
George Dorival created this poster in 1911 to promote the comic operetta, La Divorce'e. The text describes La Divorce'e as a 3 act play with music by Leo Fall.
Leo Fall (1873-1925)...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Female Nude, " Edith Glackens Dimock, Ashcan School Figurative Painting
By Edith Glackens Dimock
Located in New York, NY
Edith (Glackens) Dimock (1876 - 1955)
Untitled (Female Nude), circa 1915
Oil on canvas
34 1/2 x 28 1/4 inches
Signed lower left
Provenance:
Private Colle...
Category
Ashcan School 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
1910 Colorado Plein Air Landscape Sketch – Mountains, Valley & Field Drawing
Located in Denver, CO
This original circa 1910 graphite landscape drawing is a rare and intimate work by renowned Colorado artist Charles Partridge Adams (1858–1942), celebrated for his mastery of the Ame...
Category
American Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Graphite
Portrait of a Lady in Pince Nez - British 1919 art portrait oil painting
By Alfred Kingsley Lawrence
Located in Hagley, England
This superb British portrait oil painting is by noted artist Alfred Kinglsey Lawrence. Painted in 1919 it is a seated portrait of a young woman with a lush burgundy velvet curtain be...
Category
Realist 1910s Art
Materials
Oil
Stella Peregrina
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: collotype (after the drawing). Printed in 1917 and published in Munich in an edition of 110 by Franz Hanfstaengl for the rare "Stella Peregrina" portfolio. Image size: 8 1/4 ...
Category
Expressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Photogravure
T-Wharf in Winter
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA
Provenance
Bonhams Skinner - Malborough, March 8, 1991, lot 226;
Private collection, Pennsylvania, until 2022
A painter especially known for street and waterfront scenes of Boston, ...
Category
American Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Zwei Frauen (Two Women) /// German Expressionism Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Woodcut
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (German, 1884-1976)
Title: "Zwei Frauen (Two Women)"
Portfolio: Das Spiel Christa vom Schmerz der Schönheit des Weibes (The Play Christa from the Pain of the Beauty of the Woman)
*Issued unsigned
Year: 1918
Medium: Original Woodcut Engraving on wove paper
Limited edition: Unknown
Printer: Fritz Voigt, Berlin, Germany
Publisher: Verlag Die Aktion, Berlin, Germany
Reference: Schapire No. 222, page 45; Jentsch No. 35. Rifkind No. 2563; Lang No. 300; Reed No. 118
Overall size with attached page: 8.5" x 10.63"
Sheet size: 8.5" x 5.38"
Image size: 6.5" x 3.63"
Condition: Toning to sheet (as normal). A few tiny pinholes in right margin. In very good condition
Very rare
Notes:
Provenance: private collection - Oxnard, CA. Comes from a complete originally bound 48 page folio with 9 original woodcut engravings by Schmidt-Rottluff. Text by Alfred Brust. Presently attached to its accompanying page. The cover and title pages in pictures are not included, only for reference/provenance. There is an example of this work in the permanent collection of the Brücke Museum, Berlin, Germany.
Biography:
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (born December 1, 1884, Rottluff, near Chemnitz, Germany—died August 9, 1976, West Berlin [now Berlin]), German painter and printmaker who was noted for his Expressionist landscapes and nudes.
In 1905 Schmidt-Rottluff began to study architecture in Dresden, Germany, where he and his friend Erich Heckel met Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Fritz Bleyl...
Category
Expressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Engraving, Woodcut
1915 Original poster for Pierre Decourcelle's novel "Les marchands de patrie"
Located in PARIS, FR
Original vintage poster made in 1915 by Lucien Metivet to promote the sale of Pierre Decourcelle's novel "Les marchands de patrie."
Press - Literature
No...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Paper, Linen, Lithograph
Sheeps in the Sheep-Fold
By Charles Clair
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
Charles CLAIR (1860-1930)
Sheeps in the Sheep-Fold
Oil on canvas signed low right and dated 1913
Old original Frame
Dim canvas : 92 X 73 cm
Dim Frame : 126 X...
Category
Barbizon School 1910s Art
Materials
Oil
Preliminary Drawing for the color aquatint "New Orleans, Street Gossip"
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Preliminary Drawing for the color aquatint "New Orlaens, Street Gossip"
Signed by the artist in pencil lower left
Graphite on tracing paper, 1916-1917
An impr...
Category
American Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Graphite
Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Odeon-Casino"
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East.
In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color.
SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920.
The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs has reintroduced the world to Walter Schnackenberg’s graphic genius and priceless ephemeral art from a lost era. Besides the museum world, designer Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most prodigious collectors of Schnackenberg. Flipping through the pages of Kostume, Plakate und Dekorationen, it becomes quite clear that Schnackenberg’s collection is ground zero at the crossroads of early modern fashion where the cult of celebrity meets up with dance, music, theater and cabaret, film and the graphic medium. Berlin and Munich under Germany’s Weimar Republic in the first quarter of the 20th century produced just the atmosphere to feed this burgeoning industry. Rising inflation sparked a recklessness to live large for the moment and heightened a desire for escapism. An influx of Indian and East Asian dancers and musicians added to the artsy bohemian cultural mix. A new decadence and tolerance resulted. Film boldly featured provocative subject matter. Cabarets became popular venues giving rise to the demi-monde in which people from all social stations mixed more freely in a thriving underground economy and culture where there was a blurring of boundaries and of social codes. Noted art historian and cultural doyen, Oskar Bie astutely observes in his introduction to Schnackenberg’s publication that what unites the images is fantasy and advertisement. Schnackenberg uses the eye as an instrument to brilliantly construct and convey this double message. His personages never directly confront the viewer. Their eyes gaze off in the distance like those of the screenplayer and film star Hedamaria Scholz in Schnackenberg’s “Die Rodelhexe” movie poster. Their eyes follow the path of a dance composition or become a transfixed and ogling male gaze such as the iconic 1911 Odeon Casino...
Category
Expressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
"The Gray House"
Located in Lambertville, NJ
Jim’s of Lambertville is proud to offer this artwork by:
Robert Spencer (1879 - 1931)
One of the rarest and most important artists among the New Hope School, Robert Spencer was bo...
Category
American Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Lubin de Beauvais (1873-1917) L'Anse de Launay 1911, signed color drawing
Located in Paris, FR
Lubin de Beauvais (1873-1917)
L'anse de Launay, a woman at the beach, 1911
signed, dated and titled "Anse de Launay, Loguivy Ploubazlanec, Bretagne,...
Category
Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Pencil, Color Pencil
Le Cafe du Commerce
Located in New York, NY
Jean-Emile Laboureur (1877-1943), Le Cafe du Commerce, etching, 1913, signed in pencil lower left and numbered lower right 28/35 [also with the signature and d...
Category
Cubist 1910s Art
Materials
Etching
Portrait of a lady
Located in Wien, 9
In elegant clothing and a pompous hat, the lady looks out from the side of the picture. The narrow neckline and the sideways positioning create a strict and controlled impression. Th...
Category
Modern 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Portrait of Mr R H Sinclair - Scottish 1914 art male portrait oil painting
Located in Hagley, England
This impressive large portrait realist oil painting is by noted Scottish artist David Cowan Dobson. One of a pair, the sitter is Mr R H Sinclair and dates to 1914. He is beautifully ...
Category
Realist 1910s Art
Materials
Oil
Mother Happiness / - The ecstasy of maternal joy -
Located in Berlin, DE
Johannes Boese (1856 Ostrog - 1917 Berlin), Mutterglück, um 1910. Goldbraun patinierte Bronze auf gegossener rechteckiger Plinthe, montiert auf zweifarbigem Marmorsockel (9,5 cm Höhe...
Category
Art Nouveau 1910s Art
Materials
Bronze
$3,980 Sale Price
20% Off
Kostume, Plakate, und Dekorationen, "Odeon-Casino 1911"
Located in Palm Beach, FL
Walter Schnackenberg’s style changed several times during his long and successful career. Having studied in Munich, the artist traveled often to Paris where he fell under the spell of the Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec’s colorful and sensuous posters depicting theatrical and decadent subjects. Schnackenberg became a regular contributor of similar compositions to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East.
In his later years, Schnackenberg explored the unconscious, using surreal subject matter and paler colors that plainly portrayed dreams and visions, some imbued with political connotations. His drawings, illustrations, folio prints, and posters are highly sought today for their exceedingly imaginative qualities, enchanting subject matter, and arresting use of color.
SCHNACKENBERG: KOSTUME, PLAKATE UND DEKORATIONEN, a cardboard bound art book consisting of 43 prints of work by Walter Schnackenberg, 30 of which are color lithographs that are signed and some are titled and dated in the plate, as well as black and white prints and photographs with accompanying text by Oskar Bie; lithographs printed at Kunstanstalt Oskar Consee in Munich, other images printed by Gesellschaft Pick & Co. in Munich, the text and cover with color images by Schnackenberg front and verso printed by R. Oldenbourg in Munich; published by Musarion Verlag, Munich, 1920.
The majority of Walter Schnackenberg’s artistic output was destroyed by bomb attacks in Munich in 1944. The highly publicized 2013 auction in New York of the recovered pre-war poster collection once belonging to German poster aficionado, Hans Sachs has reintroduced the world to Walter Schnackenberg’s graphic genius and priceless ephemeral art from a lost era. Besides the museum world, designer Karl Lagerfeld is one of the most prodigious collectors of Schnackenberg. Flipping through the pages of Kostume, Plakate und Dekorationen, it becomes quite clear that Schnackenberg’s collection is ground zero at the crossroads of early modern fashion where the cult of celebrity meets up with dance, music, theater and cabaret, film and the graphic medium. Berlin and Munich under Germany’s Weimar Republic in the first quarter of the 20th century produced just the atmosphere to feed this burgeoning industry. Rising inflation sparked a recklessness to live large for the moment and heightened a desire for escapism. An influx of Indian and East Asian dancers and musicians added to the artsy bohemian cultural mix. A new decadence and tolerance resulted. Film boldly featured provocative subject matter. Cabarets became popular venues giving rise to the demi-monde in which people from all social stations mixed more freely in a thriving underground economy and culture where there was a blurring of boundaries and of social codes. Noted art historian and cultural doyen, Oskar Bie astutely observes in his introduction to Schnackenberg’s publication that what unites the images is fantasy and advertisement. Schnackenberg uses the eye as an instrument to brilliantly construct and convey this double message. His personages never directly confront the viewer. Their eyes gaze off in the distance like those of the screenplayer and film star Hedamaria Scholz in Schnackenberg’s “Die Rodelhexe” movie poster. Their eyes follow the path of a dance composition or become a transfixed and ogling male gaze such as the iconic 1911 Odeon Casino...
Category
Expressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Municipal Building, Manhattan, New York, " Ruth Anderson, Impressionist Scene
Located in New York, NY
Ruth Anderson
Municipal Building, Manhattan, circa 1918
Oil on canvas
25 x 19 inches
Ruth A. Anderson was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania in 1891 and die...
Category
Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Richard Earlom After Jan Van Huysum, Still Life With Flowers
By Richard Earlom
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This beautiful early 20th-century aquatint is after an 18th-century engraving by Richard Earlom (1743-1822) of a work by the Dutch master, Jan Van Huysum...
Category
Dutch School 1910s Art
Materials
Aquatint, Paper
Les Aveugles ( The Blind )
Located in Paonia, CO
Henri DeGroux (1866-1930) was a Belgian Symbolist painter, sculptor and lithographer. He was known for his allegorical, religious and historical subject matter. He became an inspired...
Category
Symbolist 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
Ambulkance
Located in Paonia, CO
Henri DeGroux (1866-1930) was a Belgian Symbolist painter, sculptor and lithographer. He was known for his allegorical, religious and historical subject matter. He became an inspired...
Category
Symbolist 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Day" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Palm Beach, FL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme.
Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme.
Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come.
The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender.
The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication.
Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size.
Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works.
R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans Muhlestein appeared. Its author, a young scholar, expressed his frustration with the limited availability of printable work by Hodler. In his Author’s Note on page 19, dated Easter, 1914, Muhlestein confirms that the publisher of Hodler’s three works from that same year owned the exclusive reproductive rights to Hodler’s printed original work. He goes further to explain that even after offering to pay to use certain of those images in his book, the publisher refused. Clearly, a lot of jockeying for position in what was perceived as a hot market was occurring in 1914.
Instead, their timing couldn’t have been more ill-fated, and what began with such high hopes suddenly found a much different market amid a hostile climate. The onset of WWI directly impacted sales. Many, including Ferdinand Hodler, publicly protested the September invasion by Germany of France in which the Reims Cathedral, re-built in the 13th century, was shelled, destroying priceless stained glass and statuary and burning off the iron roof and badly damaging its wooden interior. Thomas Gaehtgens, Director of the Getty Research Institute describes how the bombing of Reims Cathedral triggered blindingly powerful and deeply-felt ultra-nationalistic responses: “The event profoundly shocked French intellectuals, who for the most part had an intense admiration for German literature, music and art. By relying on press accounts and abstracting from the visual propagandistic content, they were unable to interpret the siege of Reims without turning away from German culture in disgust. Similarly, the German intelligentsia and bourgeoisie were also shocked to find themselves described as vandals and barbarians. Ninety-three writers, scientists, university professors, and artists signed a protest, directed against the French insults, that defended the actions of the German army.”
In similar fashion, a flurry of open letters published in German newspapers and journals as well as telegrams and postcards sent directly to Hodler following his outcry in support of Reims reflected the collectively critical reaction to Hodler’s position. Loosli documents that among the list of telegrams Hodler received was one from none other than his publisher in Germany, R.Piper & Co. Allegiances were questioned. The market for Hodler in Germany immediately softened. Matters worsened for the publisher beyond the German backlash to Hodler and his loss of appeal in the home market; with the war in full swing until 1918, there was little chance a German publisher would have much interest coming from outside of Germany and Austria. Following the war and Hodler’s death in 1918, the economy in Germany continued to spiral out and just 5 years later, hyper-inflation had rendered its currency worthless vis-a-vis its value in the pre-war years. Like the economy, Hodler’s reputation was slow to find currency in these difficult times. Even many French art fans had turned sour on Hodler as they considered his long-standing relationship in German and Austrian art circles. Thus, the portfolio’s rarity in Hodler’s lifetime and, consequently, the availability of these printed images from DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS since his death has been scarce.
In many ways, Hodler and his portfolios were casualties of war. Thwarted from their intended purpose of reaching a wide audience and show-casing Parallelisme, Hodler’s unique approach to art, this important, undated work has been both elusive and shrouded in mystery. Perhaps DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was left undated as a means of affirming the timelessness of Hodler’s art. Digging back into the past, Hodler’s contemporaries, like R. Piper, C.A. Loosli and Hans Muhlestein, indeed provide the keys to unequivocally clarify what has largely been mired in obscurity. Just after Hodler’s death, the May, 1918 issue of the Burlington Review ran a small column which opined hope for better access to R.Piper & Co.’s DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS; 100 years later, it is finally possible. Hodler’s voice rings out through these printed works. Once more, his modern approach to depicting portraits, landscapes and grand scale scenes of Swiss history speak to us of what is universal. Engaging with any one of these images is the chance to connect to Hodler’s vision and his world view- weltanschauung in German, vision du monde in French- however one expresses these concepts through language, its message embedded in his work is the same: “We differ from one another, but we are like each other even more. What unifies us is greater and more powerful than what divides us.” Today, Hodler’s art couldn’t be more timely.
FERDINAND HODLER (SWISS, 1853-1918) explored Parallelisme through figurative poses evocative of music, dance and ritual. His images of sex, night, desertion and death as well as his many landscapes exploring the universal longing for harmony with Nature are unique and important works embodying a Symbolist paradigm. Truly a Modern Master, Hodler’s influence can be felt in the work of Gustav Klimt and Kolomon Moser...
Category
Symbolist 1910s Art
Materials
Paper
Italienischer Frühling
Located in Wien, 9
Hans Völker wuchs in der Gründerzeit des Deutschen Kaiserreichs auf. Nach seinem Schulabschluss studierte er zunächst in seiner Heimatstadt an der dortigen Kunstgewerbeschule sowie i...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Watercolor
The Rivers Edge
Located in North Clarendon, VT
The River's Edge a beautiful American Impressionist oil on canvas attributed to William Baxter Closson. Housed in a period Foster Brothers frame.
Born October 13, 1848, in Thetford,...
Category
American Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Oil
$1,200
Baseball Magazine Cover
Located in Fort Washington, PA
Date: 1917
Medium: Oil on Canvas
Dimensions: 34.00" x 24.00"
Signature: Signed Lower Right
Baseball Magazine cover, July 1917
For more than a century, baseball was the All A...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Danseuse au Voile, Renoir, Sculpture, impressionism, naked woman, nude, bronze
Located in Geneva, CH
PIERRE-AUGUSTE RENOIR (1841-1919) La Danseuse au Voile
Cast in 1964
Ed. 14/20 pcs / Conceived in 1913 Bronze with a black patina
64 x 46 x 28 cm
Signed, foundry's stamp and numbered ...
Category
Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Bronze
Antique American Impressionist Framed 1918 Male Portrait Signed Oil Painting
Located in Buffalo, NY
Antique American impressionist portrait oil painting. Oil on canvas. Framed. Signed. Measuring: 27 by 21 inches overall, and 15 by 21 painting alone.. In excellent original condit...
Category
Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Original vintage poster from 1910 by the Coulange-Lautrec - Bonal Gentiane Quina
Located in PARIS, FR
This original vintage poster, created around 1910 by the artist Coulange-Lautrec, was commissioned to promote Bonal Gentiane Quina, the iconic apéritif rooted in St. Laurent-du-Pont ...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Linen, Paper, Lithograph
"Portland Harbor, Maine, " Alexander Bower, Snowy River Scene in Winter
Located in New York, NY
Alexander Bower (1875 - 1952)
Portland Harbor, Maine, 1910
Oil on canvas
27 x 33 inches
Signed and dated lower right
An American Impressionist, Alexande Bower was born in New York, studied at The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art, and was living with his wife in Cliff Island, Maine by 1914. Despite his urban upbringing, the coast and the sea fascinated Bower. A large portion of his paintings are seascapes, particularly scenes depicting the coast of Cape Elizabeth...
Category
Ashcan School 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$36,000 Sale Price
20% Off
"Eurhythmie" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Palm Beach, FL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extolling his artistic merits during his lifetime to showing something of a feigned disdain- more reflective of the world political order than a true change of heart for Hodler’s work. After years of Hodler being all but a footnote in the annals of art history and generally ignored, finally, the pendulum has righted itself once again. Recent retrospective exhibitions in Europe and the United States have indicated not only a joyful rediscovery of Hodler’s art but a firm conviction that his work and world view hold particular relevance today. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is not only a collection of printed work reflecting the best of all of his painted work created up to 1914 just before the outbreak of World War I, the portfolio itself is an encapsulation of Hodler’s ethos, Parallelisme.
Hodler developed his philosophy of Parallelisme as a unifying approach to art which strips away detail in search of harmony. By means of abstraction, symmetry and repetition, Hodler sought ways to depict Nature’s essence and her fundamental, universal order. He believed these universal laws governing the natural, observable world extend to the spiritual realm. Symbolist in nature with Romantic undertones, his works are equally portraits of these universal concepts and feelings governing all life as they are a visual portrait in the formal sense. Whether his subject is a solitary tree, a moment in battle, mortal fear, despair, the awe inspired by a vast mountain range, a tender moment or even the collective conviction in a belief, Hodler unveils this guiding principle of Parallelisme.
Several aspects of Hodler’s portfolio reinforce his tenets of Parallelisme. The Table of Contents clearly preferences a harmonious design over detail. The two columns, consisting of twenty lines each, list the images by order of appearance using their German titles. The abbreviated titles are somewhat cryptic in that they obscure the identities of the sitters. Like the image Hodler presents, they are distillations of the sitter without any extraneous details. This shortening was also done in an effort to maintain a harmonious symmetry of the Table of Contents, themselves, and keep titles to a one-line limit. The twenty-fourth title: “Bildnis des Schweizerischen Gesandten C.” was so long, even with abbreviation, that it required two lines; so, for the sake of maintaining symmetry, the fortieth title: “Bauernmadchen” was omitted from the list. This explains why the images are not numbered. Hodler’s reasoning is not purely esoteric. Symmetry and pattern reach beyond mere formal design principles. Finding sameness and imposing it over disorder goes to the root of Hodler’s identity and his art. A Swiss native, Hodler was bi-lingual and spoke German and French. Each printed image, even number forty, have titles in both of Hodler’s languages. Certainly, there was a market for Hodler’s work among francophones and this inclusion may have been a polite gesture to that end; however, this is the only place in the portfolio which includes French. With German titles at the lower left of each image, Hodler’s name at bottom center and corresponding French titles at the lower right of each image, there is a harmony and symmetry woven into all aspects of the portfolio. This holds true for the page design, as it applies to each printed image and as it describes the Swiss artist himself. Seen in this light, Hodler’s portfolio of printed work is the epitome of Hodler’s Parallelisme. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS is also one of the most significant documents to best tell the story of how Hodler, from Switzerland, became caught between political cross-hairs and how the changing tides of nations directly impacted the artist during his lifetime as well as the accessibility of his art for generations to come.
The Munich-based publisher of the portfolio, R. Piper & Co., Verlag, plays a crucial role in this story. Publishing on a wide range of subjects from philosophy and world religion to music, literature and the visual arts; the publisher’s breadth of inquiry within any one genre was equal in scope. Their marketing strategy to publish multiple works on Hodler offers great insight as to what a hot commodity Hodler was at that time. R.Piper & Co.’s Almanach, which they published in 1914 in commemoration of their first ten years in business, clearly illustrates the rapid succession- strategically calculated for achieving the deepest and broadest impact - in which they released three works on Hodler to hit the market by the close of 1914. DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was their premier publication. It preceded C.A. Loosli’s Die Zeichnungen Ferdinand Hodlers, a print portfolio after 50 drawings by Hodler which was released in Autumn of 1914 at the mid-level price-point of 75-150 Marks; and a third less expensive collection of prints after original works by Hodler, which had not been included in either of the first two portfolios, was released at the end of that year entitled Ferdinand Hodler by Dr. Ewald Bender.
The title and timing of DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS' debut leaves little doubt as to the connection it has with another avant-garde portfolio of art prints, Das Werk Gustav Klimts, released in 5 installments from 1908 -1914 by Galerie Miethke in Vienna. Hodler, himself, was involved in Klimt’s ground-breaking project. As the owner of Klimt’s 1901 painting, “Judith with the Head of Holifernes” which appears as the ninth collotype print in the second installment of Das Werk Gustav Klimts, Hodler was obliged to grant access of the painting to the art printers in Vienna for them to create the collotype sometime before 1908. Hodler had been previously invited in 1904 to take part in what would be the last exhibition of the Vienna Secession before Klimt and others associated with Galerie Miethke broke away. In an interview that same year, Hodler indicated that he respected and was impressed by Klimt. Hodler’s esteem for Klimt went beyond the art itself; he emulated Klimt’s method aimed at increasing his market reach and appeal to a wider audience by creating a print portfolio of his painted work. By 1914, Hodler and his publisher had the benefit of hindsight to learn from Klimt’s Das Werk publication.
Responding to the sluggish sales of Klimt’s expensive endeavor, Hodler’s publisher devised the same diversified 1-2-3 strategy for selling Hodler’s Das Werk portfolio as they did with regards to all three works on Hodler they published that year. For their premium tier of DAS WERKS FERDINAND HODLERS, R. Piper & Co. issued an exclusive Museum quality edition of 15 examples on which Hodler signed each page. At a cost of 600 Marks, this was generally on par with Klimt’s asking price of 600 Kronen for his Das Werk portfolio. A middle-tiered Preferred edition of 30, costing somewhat less and with Hodler’s signature only on the Title Page, was also available. The General edition, targeting the largest audience with its much more affordable price of 150 Marks, is distinguishable by its smaller size.
Rather than use the subscription format Miethke had chosen for Klimt’s portfolios which proved to have had its challenges, R. Piper & Co. employed a different strategy. In addition to instantly gratifying the buyer with all 40 of the prints comprising DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS and the choice among three price points, they advertised in German journals a fourth possibility of ordering single prints from them directly. These printed images are easily discernible from the three complete folio editions. The paper size of the single purchased images is of the larger format like the Museum and Preferred editions, measuring 65 h x 50 w cm; however, the paper itself is the same copper print paper used in the General edition and then mounted on poster board. The publishing house positioned itself to be a direct retailer of Hodler’s art. They astutely recognized the potential for profitability and the importance, therefore, of having proprietary control over his graphic works.
R. Piper & Co. owned the exclusive printing rights to Hodler’s best work found in their three publications dating from 1914. That same year, a competing publication out of Weimar entitled Ferdinand Hodler: Ein Deutungsversuch von Hans Muhlestein appeared. Its author, a young scholar, expressed his frustration with the limited availability of printable work by Hodler. In his Author’s Note on page 19, dated Easter, 1914, Muhlestein confirms that the publisher of Hodler’s three works from that same year owned the exclusive reproductive rights to Hodler’s printed original work. He goes further to explain that even after offering to pay to use certain of those images in his book, the publisher refused. Clearly, a lot of jockeying for position in what was perceived as a hot market was occurring in 1914.
Instead, their timing couldn’t have been more ill-fated, and what began with such high hopes suddenly found a much different market amid a hostile climate. The onset of WWI directly impacted sales. Many, including Ferdinand Hodler, publicly protested the September invasion by Germany of France in which the Reims Cathedral, re-built in the 13th century, was shelled, destroying priceless stained glass and statuary and burning off the iron roof and badly damaging its wooden interior. Thomas Gaehtgens, Director of the Getty Research Institute describes how the bombing of Reims Cathedral triggered blindingly powerful and deeply-felt ultra-nationalistic responses: “The event profoundly shocked French intellectuals, who for the most part had an intense admiration for German literature, music and art. By relying on press accounts and abstracting from the visual propagandistic content, they were unable to interpret the siege of Reims without turning away from German culture in disgust. Similarly, the German intelligentsia and bourgeoisie were also shocked to find themselves described as vandals and barbarians. Ninety-three writers, scientists, university professors, and artists signed a protest, directed against the French insults, that defended the actions of the German army.”
In similar fashion, a flurry of open letters published in German newspapers and journals as well as telegrams and postcards sent directly to Hodler following his outcry in support of Reims reflected the collectively critical reaction to Hodler’s position. Loosli documents that among the list of telegrams Hodler received was one from none other than his publisher in Germany, R.Piper & Co. Allegiances were questioned. The market for Hodler in Germany immediately softened. Matters worsened for the publisher beyond the German backlash to Hodler and his loss of appeal in the home market; with the war in full swing until 1918, there was little chance a German publisher would have much interest coming from outside of Germany and Austria. Following the war and Hodler’s death in 1918, the economy in Germany continued to spiral out and just 5 years later, hyper-inflation had rendered its currency worthless vis-a-vis its value in the pre-war years. Like the economy, Hodler’s reputation was slow to find currency in these difficult times. Even many French art fans had turned sour on Hodler as they considered his long-standing relationship in German and Austrian art circles. Thus, the portfolio’s rarity in Hodler’s lifetime and, consequently, the availability of these printed images from DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS since his death has been scarce.
In many ways, Hodler and his portfolios were casualties of war. Thwarted from their intended purpose of reaching a wide audience and show-casing Parallelisme, Hodler’s unique approach to art, this important, undated work has been both elusive and shrouded in mystery. Perhaps DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS was left undated as a means of affirming the timelessness of Hodler’s art. Digging back into the past, Hodler’s contemporaries, like R. Piper, C.A. Loosli and Hans Muhlestein, indeed provide the keys to unequivocally clarify what has largely been mired in obscurity. Just after Hodler’s death, the May, 1918 issue of the Burlington Review ran a small column which opined hope for better access to R.Piper & Co.’s DAS WERK FERDINAND HODLERS; 100 years later, it is finally possible. Hodler’s voice rings out through these printed works. Once more, his modern approach to depicting portraits, landscapes and grand scale scenes of Swiss history speak to us of what is universal. Engaging with any one of these images is the chance to connect to Hodler’s vision and his world view- weltanschauung in German, vision du monde in French- however one expresses these concepts through language, its message embedded in his work is the same: “We differ from one another, but we are like each other even more. What unifies us is greater and more powerful than what divides us.” Today, Hodler’s art couldn’t be more timely.
FERDINAND HODLER (SWISS, 1853-1918) explored Parallelisme through figurative poses evocative of music, dance and ritual. His images of sex, night, desertion and death as well as his many landscapes exploring the universal longing for harmony with Nature are unique and important works embodying a Symbolist paradigm. Truly a Modern Master, Hodler’s influence can be felt in the work of Gustav Klimt and Kolomon Moser...
Category
Symbolist 1910s Art
Materials
Paper
Portrait of a notable with a mustache
Located in Genève, GE
Work on canvas
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Oil
The Triumph of Bacchus, a large oil painting by Ferdinand Leeke
Located in London, GB
The Triumph of Bacchus, a large oil painting by Ferdinand Leeke
Oil-on-canvas, German, 1918
Frame: height 175cm, width 227cm, depth 10cm
Canvas: height...
Category
Romantic 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Large, Cast Bronze Roman Figures
Located in Los Angeles, CA
A pair of large, detailed cast bronze Roman figures of a senator (likely Julius Caesar) and possibly an emperor. Each in cascading drapery with beautifully rendered facial expression...
Category
1910s Art
Materials
Marble, Bronze
The Lady in the Park, Oil on Canvas Signed Arnaldo De Lisio
Located in Napoli, IT
Oil painting on canvas, framed in a rich gilt frame decorated with acanthus leaf motifs. The work depicts an elegantly dressed female figure, portrayed in profile in a lush formal ga...
Category
Old Masters 1910s Art
Materials
Oil
"Femme au cep de vigne" original lithograph
Located in Henderson, NV
Medium: original lithograph. Catalogue references: Delteil 44 or Roger-Marx 19. Printed in Paris by Clot and published in 1919 by Ambroise Vollard for the rare "Douze Lithographies O...
Category
Impressionist 1910s Art
Materials
Lithograph
"Dying Woman" Copper Plate Heliogravure
Located in Palm Beach, FL
2018 marks the centenary anniversary of Ferdinand Hodler’s death. In that 100 years time, the art world’s esteem of this important artist has proved fickle. It has shifted from extol...
Category
Symbolist 1910s Art
Materials
Paper
Girl with grandfather
Located in Täby, SE
Sophus Vermehren was born as the son of the painter Frederik Vermehren and his wife Thomasine Ludvigne Grüner. He trained as a painter for three years and learned to draw from his fa...
Category
Naturalistic 1910s Art
Materials
Oil
Carnival in Munich
Located in Miami, FL
Ferdinand Leeke
Carnival test, 1914
Oil on canvas
32 x 39 in
Category
Art Deco 1910s Art
Materials
Canvas, Oil





