ERWIN STOLZ (Kyselka 1896 - 1987 Vienna), Young man with Swan

ERWIN STOLZ*
(Kyselka 1896 - 1987 Vienna)
Young man with Swan
indian ink and pencil/paper, 21,5 x 17 cm
Provenance: estate of the artist, private property Vienna

ESTIMATE °€ 800 - 1.500
START € 600

Austrian painter and graphic artist of the 20th century. Started painting after World War I as a self-taught sign painter and industrial graphic artist. Maintained contacts with Gustav Kurt Beck, Erich Mallina, George Kenner, Alexander Rothaug and the artists of the Hagenbund. He was friends with Josef Matthiaus Hauser from the circle of Arnold Schönberg. Stylistically to be assigned to Art Nouveau and Symbolism, interest in mysticism, mythology and theosophy. Clear influences of Max Klinger and Gustav Klimt. Created mystical scenes and fairy-tale motifs, depictions of man and nature in harmony, male nudes and animal depictions such as young man with swan.

The present pen and ink drawings are particularly impressive and effective, in which Stolz completely discarded the coloring in favor of a radical black-and-white aesthetic. The leaves are characterized by their ornamental-decorative appeal and their mystical-symbolic depth. The thought arises that the artist was inspired by material from the world of legends or mythology in the design of this group of works with an apparently narrative character, which deals with an archer conceived as a naked youth and a swan in a dreamlike, strange Arcadian landscape. The youth, who has just killed the swan, approaches his victim with a capriciously raised left forearm with almost timid grace. He may have regrets, like the sailor who hunted down the albatross in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner. The dying or already dead swan raises its right wing accusingly and thus points to the height from which it fell and beyond earthly existence. The tall, slender trees in the background follow this upward movement.

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