Franz von Stuck

Overall the condition of the mask is very good. There is some dirt to the surfaces, especially to the crevices. There is a hairline fissure running from the centre of the top of hte head through the ribband and under the ribband to the right. There appears to have been some restoration in this area and the plaster is stable.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Franz von Stuck was a driving force behind the Munich Secession at the turn of the twentieth century. Best-known as a painter, Stuck began to work models in sculpture in 1892 with a self-portrait Athlet. In 1897 Stuck married the American widow Mary Lindpainter and began work on his Munich home and studio, the Villa Stuck. Stuck was heavily influenced by Antiquity and his re-workings of it are in evidence throughout the villa. Another version of his Mask of a Maenad is on show at the Villa. Stuck produced this model in his atelier at the Villa Stuck. Very few were made and the present Mask is a particularly fine example with a subtle red and black-green painted surface. The colouration of Antique sculpture was still a topic of lively discussion at the turn of the century and Stuck took part in it through his various re-workings of Antique models.

Stuck's mask is probably based upon an oscillum, a type of Roman decorative object which took the form of a theatrical mask, disk, shield or rectangular relief. Made of marble and sometimes bearing traces of polychromy, they also feature in Pompeian wall painting, suspended from garlands hanging within fictive colonnades. Given that oscilla are often decorated with Dionysiac imagery, it is likely that they were connected with cult ritual, while also being seen to have apotropaic properties. The subject was perfectly suited to Stuck, as the oscillum allowed him to express his own intense interest in myth and magic.

RELATED LITERATURE
M. Brandlhuber, Gesamtkunstwerk Villa Stuck, Weltkunst, July 2005 pp. 41-43, fig. 2; F. von Ostini, Franz von Stuck, Munich, 1910, p.148