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Virgil Rainer
“Adam and Eve”

1926

About the Item

Very rare Art Deco three dimensional terracotta sculpture of Adam and Eve by the Austrian artist, Virgil Rainer. Hand painted by the artist. Signed bottom right and dated 1926. Condition is very good. Surface wear on some high points consistent with age. The sculpture has a terracotta outer surface shell with the verso being reinforced by a plaster and fiber mix. Italian green solid marble base 28 inches length by 4 wide by 2 inches high. This piece is meant to be hung; most likely above table or sideboard. The marble base is separate from base and would sit on surface underneath the hung artwork. Overall height with base would be 34.25 inches. Virgil Rainer was born as a farmer's son on the Messnerhof in the Ganz fraction of the municipality of Matrei in East Tyrol. He attended the State Trade School in Innsbruck until 1894, later the Royal School of Applied Arts Munich. From 1903 to 1910 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna with Hans Bitterlich and Edmund Hellmer. In 1912 he opened a studio in Vienna and later in Berlin. When the First World War broke out in 1914, he returned to Tyrol and served with the Kaiserjäger hunters. In the economically unfavorable period after World War I, he went to America and lived in Chicago and Milwaukee from 1921 to 1925. There he created, among many other works, one of his most monumental works, the statue of Christopher Columbus for the University of Chicago. From 1926 until his death he was based in Innsbruck. Rainer mainly created large-scale religious sculptures in a naturalistic style influenced by the Secession.
  • Creator:
    Virgil Rainer (1871 - 1948)
  • Creation Year:
    1926
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 32.25 in (81.92 cm)Width: 24.25 in (61.6 cm)Depth: 1.75 in (4.45 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    Southampton, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1417145852
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