- 21
CARLOS SCHWABE | L’heure du faune
估價
60,000 - 80,000 GBP
招標截止
描述
- L’heure du faune
- signed and dated Carlos Schwab 1920 lower right
- sanguine and black crayon on paper
- 110 by 145cm., 43 by 57in.
來源
Alarik d’Ornhjelm (purchased directly from the artist. Alarik d’Ornhjelm was the brother of Ombra d'Ornhjelm, the artist's second wife)
Private collection, The Netherlands
Private collection, The Netherlands
展覽
Geneva, Galerie Moos, Carlos Schwab, 1920, no. 26 (as L’heure du faune, crayon)
Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition rétrospective Carlos Schwab, 1927, no. 47 (as sanguine and belonging to Alarik d’Ornhjelm)
Paris, Galerie Georges Petit, Exposition rétrospective Carlos Schwab, 1927, no. 47 (as sanguine and belonging to Alarik d’Ornhjelm)
出版
Léon Dunand, 'Carlos Schwab à Genève', in Tribune de Genève, 24 March 1920, cited
Condition
The artist's sheet has been fully laid on canvas. There is a horizontal, circa 5cm cut in the sheet in the centre of the left framing edge and one very small crease is visible upon close inspection in the faun's right leg. There is some minor foxing in the sky, however not distracting. The artist's medium is well preserved. Colours appear to be fresh and strong. Considering its size and medium, this work is in very good condition and is ready to hang. Presented glazed, in a gilt frame.
"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."
拍品資料及來源
Goat-footed, horned, Bacchanalian Pan,
Fanatic power, from whom the world began,
Whose various parts by thee inspired, combine
In endless dance and melody divine. — Orphic Hymn to Pan (2nd c. CE)
Executed in 1920 the present work predates by three years the second version of this subject in the collection of the Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva. Among Schwabe’s most iconic works, L’heure du faune is a tour de force of masterful draughtsmanship, showing Schwabe at the height of his artistic capabilities. While the Geneva version shows the Faun walking through a wheat field in high summer, here Schwabe depicts his faun with an almost photographic realism in a spring meadow, surrounded by open countryside. The glow of the setting sun bathes the solitary faun in a warm light.
As a symbolic corollary of human existence, Schwabe often drew upon plants at different stages of their development – budding, blossoming or withering – to convey meaning. L’heure du faune shows the primeval energy and vitality of spring. Schwabe’s delicate and joyful attention to detail intensifies the allegory of this youthful profusion of growth.
A symbol of independence, power, wildness, vitality, sexuality, fertility and virility, and associated with the gods Pan and Dionysus, fauns represent the essence of nature, male sexuality and the energy of life. Schwabe had first depicted this mythological creature in an illustration for a poem by Albert Samain, Au jardin de l’infante in 1908. The faun theme was likely inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé's L'après-midi d'un faune and Debussy’s symphonic Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, which in turn served as the scenario for a ballet Afternoon of a Faun choreographed to Debussy's score in 1912 by Vaslav Nijinsky. Schwabe was also close to the composer Paul Dukas, who wrote a short piano piece La plainte au loin du faune in 1920 as an homage to the deceased Debussy.
The verticality of the faun, juxtaposed against the horizontal lines of the field and sky imbue the figure with monumentality, while the positioning of his leg and his bent posture suggest movement. As in Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, only the flute of the faun pervades the stillness of the meadow.
Born in Hamburg, Carlos Schwabe became a Swiss citizen in 1888 and studied at the Ecole des Arts Industriels in Geneva. He later moved to France, living in Paris and near Barbizon. From 1891, he exhibited at the Salons de la Société Nationale and with the Salon Rose + Croix. For the latter Salon he produced the poster for the Rose + Croix inaugural exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1892.
An illustrator of Emile Zola's Le Rêve (published 1892), Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal (1900), Maeterlinck's Pelléas et Mélisande, Catulle Mendes's L'Evangile de l'enfance de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ selon Saint Pierre (1900) and Albert Samain's Jardin de l'Infante (1908), Schwabe's minute technique and pure conceptions demonstrate the influence of Dürer, Botticelli and the Pre-Raphaelites.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond.
Fanatic power, from whom the world began,
Whose various parts by thee inspired, combine
In endless dance and melody divine. — Orphic Hymn to Pan (2nd c. CE)
Executed in 1920 the present work predates by three years the second version of this subject in the collection of the Musée d'art et d'histoire, Geneva. Among Schwabe’s most iconic works, L’heure du faune is a tour de force of masterful draughtsmanship, showing Schwabe at the height of his artistic capabilities. While the Geneva version shows the Faun walking through a wheat field in high summer, here Schwabe depicts his faun with an almost photographic realism in a spring meadow, surrounded by open countryside. The glow of the setting sun bathes the solitary faun in a warm light.
As a symbolic corollary of human existence, Schwabe often drew upon plants at different stages of their development – budding, blossoming or withering – to convey meaning. L’heure du faune shows the primeval energy and vitality of spring. Schwabe’s delicate and joyful attention to detail intensifies the allegory of this youthful profusion of growth.
A symbol of independence, power, wildness, vitality, sexuality, fertility and virility, and associated with the gods Pan and Dionysus, fauns represent the essence of nature, male sexuality and the energy of life. Schwabe had first depicted this mythological creature in an illustration for a poem by Albert Samain, Au jardin de l’infante in 1908. The faun theme was likely inspired by Stéphane Mallarmé's L'après-midi d'un faune and Debussy’s symphonic Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, which in turn served as the scenario for a ballet Afternoon of a Faun choreographed to Debussy's score in 1912 by Vaslav Nijinsky. Schwabe was also close to the composer Paul Dukas, who wrote a short piano piece La plainte au loin du faune in 1920 as an homage to the deceased Debussy.
The verticality of the faun, juxtaposed against the horizontal lines of the field and sky imbue the figure with monumentality, while the positioning of his leg and his bent posture suggest movement. As in Debussy’s Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, only the flute of the faun pervades the stillness of the meadow.
Born in Hamburg, Carlos Schwabe became a Swiss citizen in 1888 and studied at the Ecole des Arts Industriels in Geneva. He later moved to France, living in Paris and near Barbizon. From 1891, he exhibited at the Salons de la Société Nationale and with the Salon Rose + Croix. For the latter Salon he produced the poster for the Rose + Croix inaugural exhibition at the Galerie Durand-Ruel in 1892.
An illustrator of Emile Zola's Le Rêve (published 1892), Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal (1900), Maeterlinck's Pelléas et Mélisande, Catulle Mendes's L'Evangile de l'enfance de notre Seigneur Jésus-Christ selon Saint Pierre (1900) and Albert Samain's Jardin de l'Infante (1908), Schwabe's minute technique and pure conceptions demonstrate the influence of Dürer, Botticelli and the Pre-Raphaelites.
The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Jean-David Jumeau-Lafond.