Striding female nude hunched forwards

Details

Weidinger/Strobl 150. Literature: Sabarsky, Serge (ed.), Oskar Kokoschka. Dessins et aquarelles 1906-1924, Milan 1984, cat. no.17, with col. illus. p. 51; Sabarsky, Serge (ed.), Oskar Kokoschka. Drawings and watercolors 1906-1924, New York 1986, cat. no.17, with col. illus. Exhibitions: Westdeutscher Kunstmarkt, Düsseldorf 1978; Oskar Kokoschka. Die frühen Jahre. Zeichnungen und Aquarelle, ausgewählt vof Serge Sabarsky, Historisches Museum der Stadt Vienna et. al., 1982/83, cat. no.18; Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Egon Schiele: Dessins et Aquarelles, Salle Saint-Jean, Hôtel de Ville, Paris et. al. 1984, cat. no.36; Oskar Kokoschka. The Early Years: 1907-1924, Serge Sabarsky Gallery, New York 1985/86, cat. no.13, with col. illus. p. 31; Egon Schiele und Vienna zur Jahrhundertwende, Isetan Museum, Shinjuku,Tokyo et. al. 1986, cat. no.111, with col. illus. p. 167;Oskar Kokoschka. Dipinti e disegni, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Florence / Palazzo del Turismo, Riccione 1987, cat. no.23; Oskar Kokoschka. Die frühen Jahre, Josef Albers Museum. Quadrat, Bottrop et. al. 1988–1997, cat. no.14 / 22;Gustav Klimt. 1862–1918, Nassau County Museum of Art, Roslyn 1989;Klimt Schiele Kokoschka, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, 1995, cat. no.101;Oskar Kokoschka, Oskar Kokoschka Galerie, Prague 1996/97; Oskar Kokoschka. Viden – Praha. Olejomalby, Akvarely, Kresby, Mezinárodní kulturní centrum Egona Schieleho, Kret. al. 1997; Oskar Kokoschka. Peintures et œuvres sur papier. Vienne 1906–Paris 1931, Musée-Galerie de la Seita, Paris 1998/99, cat. no.19, with col. illus.; Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen 2002; Städtische Museen Heilbronn, 2006 – 2008. Provenance: collection of Günther Franke, Munich; collection of/estate of Serge Sabarsky, New York, acquired from the aforementioned in 1976; collection of/Foundation Vally Sabarsky, New York.

Description

• Early work by the important Viennese Expressionist
• Works from this period rarely appear at auction
• The simplified forms and free modelling of the figure already allude to Kokoschka’s later, mature style

Kokoschka probably drew this nude whilst still a student at the School of Arts and Crafts, where he studied under Koloman Moser and other artists of the Wiener Werkstätte from 1904 to 1909. The young artist was enthusiastic about drawing nudes from the very beginning: “I made whole batches of lightning-fast movement studies every day. Capturing and reproducing the various movements and twists of the body in motion in an instant was the exciting thing for me, in contrast to the boring academic lessons. “Kokoschka favoured youthful, agile models, androgynous child-like figures with the fragile physique of adolescents. In the present drawing, he skilfully brings the gaunt body of a girl onto the paper in a few strokes and with long outlines. His nude studies from this period convey a tart yet delicate grace, and his early works can be traced back stylistically to the drawings of Gustav Klimt and Auguste Rodin. At this time, in the early 1900s, Austrian artists were beginning to reject the ornamental and decorative style of fin de siècle Vienna in favour of a more realistic, direct and simple aesthetic.