- 173
Franz von Stuck
Estimate
35,000 - 50,000 GBP
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Description
- Franz Von Stuck
- Beethoven
- signed: FRANZ STUCK and entitled: BEETHOVEN
- gilt and polychromed stucco
Condition
Overall the condition of the relief is very good. There is some minor wear and dirt consistent with age. There are a few stable hairline fissures to the surface of the face and background.
"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."
"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."
Catalogue Note
Stuck's high relief of Ludwig van Beethoven is amongst the most arresting depictions of the romantic composer with whom – according to Friedrich Nietzsche's famous interpretation (1874) – music "began to discover the language of passion, of passionate desire, of the dramatic events which take place in the depths of man."
The veneration of Beethoven amongst the artists of the fin-de-siècle reached its apex with the exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1902 (the 75th anniversary of his death), which was entirely dedicated to the great composer. On that occasion Max Klinger unveiled his large polychrome Monument to Ludwig van Beethoven (Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste), which he had been working on since the 1880s, and Gustav Klimt painted the Beethoven Frieze, a visualisation of the composer's Ninth Symphony as interpreted by Richard Wagner, with strong Freudian undertones. France was taken by Beethoven-mania as well. Antoine Bourdelle's bronze bust of the genius of 1902 was the principle inspiration behind Alfredo Pina's bust of Beethoven offered earlier in this sale (lot 46).
Franz von Stuck – the co-founder of the Munich Secession and teacher, amongst others, of Alexei von Jawlensky and Paul Klee – first created his polychrome plaster Portrait of Beethoven in 1900. Of the few examples known, one is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and another was formerly in the Baldhamer collection (sold in these rooms on 17 June 1986, lot 62) and subsequently in the collection of Joey and Toby Tanenbaum (sold Sotheby's, New York, 26 May 1994, lot 130).
The contrast between Beethoven's three-dimensional head and the surrounding plane from which it emerges is indebted to Arnold Böcklin's powerful polychrome papier mâché Shield with the Head of Medusa (sold in these rooms on 14 November 2007, lot 253, to the Musée d'Orsay), the first example of which dates to 1885. In both cases the antithesis between portrait head and ground is heightened by the bichromatic accord between the pale face and the surrounding field of one dark colour. Beethoven's white complexion strongly contradicts the illusion of life suggested by the concentrated facial expression and the penetrating gaze. It also underscores the portrait's mask-like character. Stuck actually based the portrait upon the life-mask of the composer which was taken by Franz Klein in 1812.
The red ground which surrounds Beethoven's head may symbolise the fire aroused by the spark of his genius or might even be suggestive of blood – which is significantly missing from the sitter's complexion. In its antithesis of life and death, absence and presence, and attraction and repulsion, Stuck aims to establish a visual equivalent for the emotional extremes evoked by Beethoven's music, for its creative and destructive power and violence, which should later be masterfully explored by Andrei Tarkovsky in his film Ivanovo destvo (1962) and in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971).
RELATED LITERATURE
Masques de Carpeaux à Picasso, exhib. cat. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2009, pp. 148-152 & 240, cat. 140
The veneration of Beethoven amongst the artists of the fin-de-siècle reached its apex with the exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1902 (the 75th anniversary of his death), which was entirely dedicated to the great composer. On that occasion Max Klinger unveiled his large polychrome Monument to Ludwig van Beethoven (Leipzig, Museum der bildenden Künste), which he had been working on since the 1880s, and Gustav Klimt painted the Beethoven Frieze, a visualisation of the composer's Ninth Symphony as interpreted by Richard Wagner, with strong Freudian undertones. France was taken by Beethoven-mania as well. Antoine Bourdelle's bronze bust of the genius of 1902 was the principle inspiration behind Alfredo Pina's bust of Beethoven offered earlier in this sale (lot 46).
Franz von Stuck – the co-founder of the Munich Secession and teacher, amongst others, of Alexei von Jawlensky and Paul Klee – first created his polychrome plaster Portrait of Beethoven in 1900. Of the few examples known, one is in the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, and another was formerly in the Baldhamer collection (sold in these rooms on 17 June 1986, lot 62) and subsequently in the collection of Joey and Toby Tanenbaum (sold Sotheby's, New York, 26 May 1994, lot 130).
The contrast between Beethoven's three-dimensional head and the surrounding plane from which it emerges is indebted to Arnold Böcklin's powerful polychrome papier mâché Shield with the Head of Medusa (sold in these rooms on 14 November 2007, lot 253, to the Musée d'Orsay), the first example of which dates to 1885. In both cases the antithesis between portrait head and ground is heightened by the bichromatic accord between the pale face and the surrounding field of one dark colour. Beethoven's white complexion strongly contradicts the illusion of life suggested by the concentrated facial expression and the penetrating gaze. It also underscores the portrait's mask-like character. Stuck actually based the portrait upon the life-mask of the composer which was taken by Franz Klein in 1812.
The red ground which surrounds Beethoven's head may symbolise the fire aroused by the spark of his genius or might even be suggestive of blood – which is significantly missing from the sitter's complexion. In its antithesis of life and death, absence and presence, and attraction and repulsion, Stuck aims to establish a visual equivalent for the emotional extremes evoked by Beethoven's music, for its creative and destructive power and violence, which should later be masterfully explored by Andrei Tarkovsky in his film Ivanovo destvo (1962) and in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971).
RELATED LITERATURE
Masques de Carpeaux à Picasso, exhib. cat. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, 2009, pp. 148-152 & 240, cat. 140