Gustav Heinrich Eberlein

Max Graetz, Schloss Ganz, Ganz, from circa 1918;
and thence by family descent, until 1945;
thence nationalised and administered by the Landkreis Ostprignitz-Ruppin, Schloss Ganz, 1945 - 2004;
sold by the Landkreis Ostprignitz-Ruppin, 2004;
private collection, Germany, 2004-2012;
the present owner

Overall the condition of the marble is very good with minor dirt and wear to the surface consistent with age. There is veining to the marble consistent with the material, including veins running vertically across Venus' proper left forearm and round the proper left side of her back; a prominent darker vein at her proper left upper arm at the back; another darker vein running from her proper left shoulder blade down to the drapery around her buttocks; and smaller veins to her proper right shoulder and the proper right side of her back and arm. There are several naturally occurring inclusions, some with fill, including to Cupid's proper right leg, and Venus' proper right shoulder, proper left temple, and proper left nipple. There is a small restoration to the tip of Cupid's nose. There are a few minor chips to the edges of the drapery at the back, notably at the proper left hip, and to the bottom edge of the terrasse. Venus' forearms and the tops of Cupid's arrows have been repolished. The marblised wood base is in good condition with several chips and abrasions to the edges, notably the top edge.
"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."

This fine marble is the prime version of one of the only Venus and Cupid groups by Gustav Eberlein to survive in marble and the largest marble by the prolific Berlin sculptor to appear at auction in recent decades. For almost a century it graced a castle in the vicinity of Berlin, where Eberlein spent most of his career. The suggestive and playful execution of the subject, detailed with great finesse, illustrates the key part Eberlein played in the genesis of Neo-Baroque sculpture in Germany.

Eberlein takes a central place in the development of German 19^th-century sculpture. Together with such artists as Reinhold Begas he moved away from the Romantic Neoclassicism of Christian Daniel Rauch and Emil Wolff and set out to create an original approach to sculpture referred to as Neo-Baroque. Eberlein still explicitly referenced works from Antiquity but treated his subjects with painterly, veristic, and psychologising means to create a modern style more illustrative of the sentiments and technical advances of the time. Das Verbot, in which Venus reprimands Cupid for the heartbreak his amorous exploits have caused, cites statues like the Venus Felix or the Louvre Venus and Cupid, but the composition is complicated by the twisted pose of Venus, juxtaposed by the more frontally represented Cupid. This contrast breathes life into the group. Naturalistically treated scenery and details such as the drapery and the tree trunk on the base lend both opulence and immediacy to the group. The hair and flesh are treated with enticing realism whilst the coy gestures and the revealing placement of the drapery complete the group’s erotic qualities. The whole is made light-hearted and modern through Cupid’s droll expression as he is restrained by Venus in a motherly way. 

A reduction in marble of Das Verbot dated to 1900 is on display in the Nationalgalerie in Berlin (inv. no. SKG 21/73). Bronze editions could be purchased from the Gladenbeck foundry according to their 1900 and 1905 catalogues. (see Ethos and Pathos, op.cit., no. 68) One such bronze of 123 centimeters dated 1893 appeared at auction in 2009. Its size and dating suggests that the bronzes were derived from the present marble. Das Verbot is part of a series of statues Eberlein conceived between 1886 and 1896 which all star Venus and Cupid. The series included groups of Venus shackling Cupid and Venus spanking Cupid. Most of these compositions now only survive in the heavily restored collection of plasters of the former Eberlein Museum in Hannoversch Münden. (see Rosenberg, op.cit., pp. 56-57 and Bloch, op.cit., no. 97)

This is only the third marble by Eberlein to come to the market in the last 25 years. The sculptor produced few marbles intended for private use. It enabled him to concentrate on the extraordinary number of official commissions he received. Eberlein erected no less than seven equestrian monuments of Emperor Wilhelm I in Germany between 1893 and 1897, as well as a monument to Bismarck in Krefeld, the Wagner monument in Berlin Zoo, and statues of Friedrich I and Friedrich Wilhelm III for the Siegesallee in the same city. Outside of Germany he was responsible for the magisterial Goethe monument in Rome, the city where he spent nearly half his career, and supplied the marble figures and reliefs surrounding the equestrian monument to General Jose Martin during his sojourn in Buenos Aires at the turn of the century. Aside from being a prominent and prolific sculptor Eberlein made around 300 paintings, and published poetry, fiction, and theoretical treatises on art and politics.

RELATED LITERATURE
C.A. Rosenberg, Eberlein, Berlin, 1903; R. Grimm, Werkverzeichnis des Bildhauers, Malers und Dichters Prof. Gustav H. Eberlein 1847-1926, Hemmingen, 1983, p. 116, no. 270; P. Bloch, S. Einholz and J. von Simson (eds.), Ethos und Pathos. Die Berliner Bildhauerschule 1786-1914, exh cat. Staatliche Museen Berlin, Berlin, 1990, vol. I, pp. 63 and 64, vol. II, pp. 84-93; P. Bloch, Bildwerke 1780-1910 aus der Bestanden der Skulpturengalerie und der Nationalgalerie, Berlin, 1990, pp. 191-192, no. 98

We would like to thank Prof. Rolf Grimm, the chairman of the Gustav-Eberlein-Forschung e.V, for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.