'Autumn', Putto With Grapes, by Michael Powolny, Vienna Ceramics, 1913-1919

Excellent and rare Art Nouveau ceramic piece from a series of the four seasons: Naked putto in a wide stance, head tilted to the left and holding a cascade of flowers falling to the ...

Michael Powolny Art Nouveau centrepiece with three cherubs - most lovely ceramics item! Modelled by Michael Powolny (1871 - 1954), circa 1907. Hallmarked: Manufactured by Wiener Keramik (Vienna Ceramics) (WK / hallmarked). Material is ceramics (multicolored painted / glossy finish). Model 113 (model number is impressed / bottom glazed) Monogram of "Michael Powolny (MP)" is impressed, too. Made 1912. ________________________________________________________________________________ Subject: Most lovely three naked male cherub's figurines holding a round plate attached to their heads / the mentioned plate is blue painted at bottom side / the surface of tiered round socle is partially moss green shaded. ________________________________________________________________________________ Height: 21.0 cm (= 8.66 inches) Diameter of platter: 24.5 cm (= 9.64 inches) ________________________________________________________________________________ Bibliography: Waltraud Neuwirth, Markenlexikon für Kunstgewerbe (3), Wiener Keramik / Modelle 1906-13; pages 100-101 Elisabeth Frottier, "Michael Powolny, Keramik und Glas aus Wien 1900-1950", Vienna 1990, page 200, List of Work (= Werkverzeichnis) number W 113 (WV 61), Model 113 ________________________________________________________________________________ Experts of Fine Arts assess Michael Powolny's work nowadays as result of activity of one the most important ceramics sculptors / designers of Austrian Art Nouveau. Most of Powolny's successors were strongly under his sway since Powolny had left 'large steps' in Viennese Art of Ceramics. Excellent condition. ____________________________________________________________________________________ About Michael Powolny (Sculptor). As both a designer and a teacher, the Austrian ceramicist and glassware designer Michael Powolny was an important figure in the development of modernist aesthetics in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century. His romantic sculptural pottery figures embrace the lush, dynamic stylings of Gustav Klimt and other progressive artists, while his functional pieces — such as glass bowls and vases — employ the simple linear and geometric ornamentation that marked the work of Josef Hoffmann and other members of the Wiener Werkstätte Community of designers and craftsmen. Powolny received classical training in ceramics from his father, a potter, and at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, but later joined in the modernizing movement in the Austrian arts at the close of the 19th century. In 1897, Klimt, Hoffman, Koloman Moser and other artists and architects founded the Vienna Secession, a group that fought for freedom of expression against the city’s tradition-bound arts establishment. Powolny’s work reflects the changing times. He used classical figures in his ceramics — female nudes, cherubs — yet would dress them in modern ornament such as garlands of abstract, geometric flowers. Pieces from Powolny’s ceramics company were sold through the Wiener Werkstätte (Viennese Workshops) founded by Hoffmann and Moser, and Hoffman later hired Powolny to create ceramic ornamentation for his architectural masterpiece, the Palais Stoclet in Brussels. Powolny would go on to design glassware that combines elegant, tapering forms with precise linear decoration. His most influential work may have come as a professor at the School of Applied Arts, where he taught both Lucie Rie, the great Austrian-British modernist ceramicist, and the American potter Viktor Schreckengost, creator of the “Jazz Bowl...

Extremely rare Art Nouveau Figurine Group by Meissen: Monumental figure of Flora, taking a step forward in dance and holding large, heavy flower garlands of yellow roses, which are wrapped with a blue bow, in hands. The hair of the female nude is artfully tied into a striped cloth, which is held together by blue ribbons and is decorated with leaf branches over the ears. On her left shoulder she carries a naked boy who is holding in an upside down position a golden wreath...

Most lovely Art Nouveau cherub figurine attached to centrepiece. made circa 1919 modelled by Carl KLIMT (born 1876 in Teplitz - died 1945 in...

A fine antique German Art Nouveau figurine. Entitled the Grape Bearer: By Rudolf Marcuse for Rosenthal Porcelain. Model no. 477. Modeled as a half-nude young woman seated on a pl...

Minton Majolica figural vase which features a putti holding a basket, with a quiver of arrows between his feet. Colouration: cream, yellow, blue, are predominant. The piece bears mak...

This large French majolica centerpiece, hand-painted and featuring three putti carrying a platter, is an exceptional piece from the 19th century, in the style of Palissy, Minton, and...

In 2000 a Viennese public house released the first monograph about Walter Bosse. Illustrated with various pictures it shows his highly creative potential and his influence and impact...