Josef Franz Sturm (Austrian 1858-1935)(Attributed): Sitting Nude Ephebe - Circa 1880-1900

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This is the second of the academic works I bought last night, in this case a nicely executed pencil drawing of a nude boy posed on a bench, leaning against a support. It is signed on the lower right "F. Sturm," most probably the Austrian artist Josef Franz Sturm (1858-1935). Franz Sturm studied at the Vienna School of Applied Arts and later at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He was active as an illustrator. He regularly exhibited his works at the "Wiener Kuenstlerhaus" and abroad.
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Unknown Artist - Unknown German School: Nude Boy Sitting On A Rock - Circa 1900

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This is the first of the two small academic nudes I managed to take at auction last night, in this particular case a beautiful little watercolor of a nude boy sitting astride a large rock. When it arrives I will check into having a paper restoration specialist remove those foxing stains from the paper. I am sure that will greatly improve the surface and appearance of the image. I am always impressed with the artistic capabilities of anyone well versed in watercolor techniques. It is a difficult medium and requires a lot more than casual artistic skills to really master. You can see the underlying pencil drawing if you look closely and I really love how the artist has used the paper color itself to carry the majority of the flesh tones in the torso and arms and legs.  Enjoy.
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Unknown Artist - 19th Century German School: Standing Nude Male Youth

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Over the last week I have placed bids on three academic works on the European eBay sites. I managed to take a pencil drawing and a watercolor but missed out on this very nice academic painting in oils of a standing nude male youth. For the entire week of the auction it had no activity which I attributed to the manner in which the seller had it listed. None of the usual search keys were in the title or the brief description so I figured the casual buyer would be asleep on this one. The furious serious bidding starts at the eight second mark regardless of any bids placed over the week. That is when the snipping bids by computer program begin the final battle for the highest bid. Getting into an open bidding war on eBay is not the way a tried and true buyer bids and wins. Well I missed this one, having been outbid during that last few seconds of bidding. I really would have loved to have had this in my collection but it just was not to be. Enjoy.
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