Academic Nudes of the 19th Century: Unknown Austrian Artist: Jugendstilbronze - Aus der Quelle trinkender Mann- Out of the Source

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Unknown Austrian Artist: Jugendstilbronze - Aus der Quelle trinkender Mann- Out of the Source - Man Drinking

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Caption: Drinking Man
Artist: Adolf Josef Pohl (1872-1938)
Medium: Cast Bronze
Dated: 1910

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Addendum: I have been looking through the reference books I have on Bronze's of the 19th Century trying to identify the artist of this nice bronze (below) and I found a potential artist: Adolf Josef Pohl (1872-1938). He was active during the appropriate time period. He sculpted a somewhat similar small bronze dated 1910 titled "Drinking Man" (see illustration above). There are stylistic similarities, especially how the figure becomes part of the landscape, that lead to to this conclusion. Pohl is a potential answer to this mystery. I will have to wait until the bronze arrives and take a closer look at it under the magnifying glass.
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Surprise.... The dealer accepted my low ball offer and the bronze will be on its way into my collection shortly. I will have to do some investigation and research and see if I can identify the artist. I may even remove it from the base and see it it is signed on the bottom. Who knows it may be signed. It always mystifies me when an artist fails to sign his or her work for posterity. Then again, that would put a lot of researchers out of work. I will re-photograph it when it arrives. I ordered an encyclopedia of European Bronzes from Amazon.com. Perhaps it will have information about this bronze.
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I keep running across these beautiful little desktop bronzes on various sites. When I first saw this quality little bronze online it just screamed Jugendstil (Art Nouveau) in those flowing lines and the subject matter itself. I love the way the figure interacts with the action and the way the musculature of the back interplays with the movement of the rest of composition. I don't know what it is about accomplished artistic craftsmanship that speaks to me when I see a bronze like this but it does. I may take a stab at obtaining it, stay tuned. I'll make the antiques dealer an offer and see if he salutes the flag.
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