Sale: 422 / Old Masters and Art of the 19th Century, May 22. 2015 in Munich Lot 335

 

335
Max Klinger
Badendes Mädchen, sich im Wasser spiegelnd, Ca. 1896/97.
Bronze
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 35,000 / $ 37,800

(incl. surcharge)
Badendes Mädchen, sich im Wasser spiegelnd. Ca. 1896/97.
Bronze, with black-gray surface (presumably colored at a later point).
With artist's monogram at stump. Numbered on plinth "n. 567" next to heel and with foundry mark "AKT. GES. vorm. GLADENBECK. BERLIN". Ca. 101 x 31 x 37.5 cm (39.7 x 12.2 x 14.7 in).
Attached: modern base. [CB].

EXHIBITION: Max Klinger 1857-1920, exhibition on occasion of the 50th anniversary of the artist's death, Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 1970, cat. no. 4, p. 51 (the original marble sculpture).

LITERATURE: Cf. Max Schmid, Klinger, Knackfuß Künstlermonographien, vol. 41, Bielefeld and Leipzig 1899, pp. 122f., illus. 94f. (marble sculpture).
Cf. Georg Treu, Max Klinger als Bildhauer, special print from magazine PAN, Leipzig/Berlin 1900, pp. 26f. and plate III (marble sculpture).
Cf. Gerhard Winkler, Max Klinger, Leipzig 1984, illu. 171 (marble sculpture).
Cf. Max Klinger. Inventory catalog of paintings and drawings, Museum der Bildenden Künste, Leipzig 1995, pp. 56f., A 7, A 7a and A 7b (marbe sculpture and reduced versions in bronze and marble).

In those days, a few years before the turn of century, he made the 152 cm, almost life-size tall partly gilt-tooled marble sculpture "Badendes Mädchen, sich im Wasser spiegelnd", today in possession of the 'Museum der bildenden Künste'in Leipzig. It can be assumed that Helene Donath, who was his preferred nude model for a couple of years, sat model for this work. However, it is also possible that the artist depicted Elsa Asenijeff. The writer and later muse of Klinger had moved to Leipzig in 1897, in order to study philosophy.
The tender figure of the bather and her unusually twisted, yet lovely pose makes her one of the most charming figures in Klinger's oeuvre. Additionally, the observer has an unusually active role, as he can capture the fine details and the pose of the well-proportioned body only when observing the figure by walking around it. Additionally, he has to add the water surface in his imagination.
With Max Klinger's permission, the Berlin art foundry H. Gladenbeck & Sohn made various reduced versions of the life-size marble figure as of around 1902. The Leipzig company C. B. Lorck was in charge of sales and distribution. The amount of copies made of this bronze is unknown, however, especially the large variant with a height of 101 cm is very rare on the art market.



335
Max Klinger
Badendes Mädchen, sich im Wasser spiegelnd, Ca. 1896/97.
Bronze
Estimate:
€ 30,000 / $ 32,400
Sold:
€ 35,000 / $ 37,800

(incl. surcharge)