Holger Christensen (1890 - 1965) "After the Bath" - Standing Male Nude & Nude Boy - Clay Sculpture - Signed but Undated

 

I must admit when it comes to my two sons I am a complete softy. Saying that I am proud of them would be an understatement. The oldest is working on a post-graduate degree and the youngest just earned the rank of Major in the US army. Lord help me, but I must have done something right in raising them. When I saw this clay sculpture of a father & son titled "After the Bath" it touched something in my heart. The artist, Holger Christensen (1890-1965), was, from what little I could find on his biography, a sculptor and designer for the Royal Copenhagen Factory from 1910 to 1960, producing many famous Royal Copenhagen figures. Unfortunately, even my Benezit Dictionary of Artists did not list him, so there is scant biographic information that I could find about this talented artist. Enjoy.

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Here is a small sampling of his works for The Royal Copenhagen Factory:

Joseph Jungwirth (Vienna 1869 - 1950 Stockholm) Herren Akt mi Schatten - Standing Male Nude, Signed and Dated (18)91

 

                         Joseph Jungwirth (1869-1950)- Self-Portrait later in life.

A week ago I was bouncing around on my usual European auction haunts when I decided to try fishing for artworks with various new foreign language search terms when up pops a beautiful standing male nude by the Austrian artist Joseph Jungwirth (1869-1950). The drawing is signed and dated (18)91 and is apparently, if my math is correct, from Jungwirth’s student days at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. He was aged 21-22 when this particular work was executed and shows what a very talented young artist he proved to be. Auction records for his works remain strong to date.  I initially programmed a snipping bid for a hundred Euro’s over the start price and this morning when the first bid showed up on the listing I suddenly realized that my bid would definitely be way too low for this caliber of work and I wanted dearly to add it to my collection. I reprogrammed my bid for several more hundred Euro’s and held my breath. Fortunately I was correct (4 Euro's above the highest bid) and this beautiful drawing has a new home in my collection. Jungwirth is best known for his travels with Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his creating several portraits for him. Towards the end of his life he is recorded as having lived in Stockholm, Sweden. During the time this drawing was executed he was studying at the Vienna Academy of Fine Art with Sigmund L’Allemand, August Eisenmenger, and Kasimir Pochwalski, all Professors at the Academy. Joseph Jungwirth worked in Vienna most of his career and was awarded a medal in Munich in 1905 and exhibited in Berlin in the same year. Enjoy!

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Here are just a few examples of his works:

Anonymous Artist - 1854 - High School Portrait - Collage of Algiers - Henri Martin - Miniature Portrait (Gouache)

 

I was doing my routine of stumbling around on eBay France several weeks ago when I happened upon something quite unique and If you have been following my blog for any length of time you know what a great admirer I am of any artist who can do righteous justice to a portrait. I happened upon this tiny (8 cm by 11 cm) portrait of a young student of the College of Algiers, dated 1884-1885. I do not think that the seller even realized he had a pencil drawing, overlaid with gouache. It was just a miniature portrait to be disposed of. The pencil markings on the reverse even identified the sitter as “Henri Martin,” class of 1884-1885.

 In the age when the wealthy could hire Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre to produce a photographic likeness of the sitter in perfect detail it remained to the lowly artist with pencil, paper, and watercolor in hand, to produce a tiny, beautiful work of art for the sitter, which is far more beautiful in my humble opinion than any photograph of the time, and which has survived intact for 138 years.  Enjoy as much as I do!

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Monogramist.. A.M. Late 19th Century Drawing: Three Nudes at Bath… Classic Example of The Golden Mean

 

I was stumbling around my usual haunts on eBay France several weeks ago when I happened upon this Classic example of Aristotle’s “golden mean.” I was captivated by this image and earmarked it for later review for purchase. The price was affordable as listed but the seller immediately lowered the price and at the time I had other irons in the fire so I filed it away for later consideration. Well, as always, time went by and I still had that image filed away in the folds of my mind. In my old head that image was a classic example of “The Golden Mean” and I had to try to own it. In a word the image was simply “beautiful” as far as I was concerned. I went back to the listing later and low balled the seller on the discounted price and he accepted, and the drawing arrived today. The Phrygian Cap on that model on the far right is pure “French” in 19th Century art. The heraldry escapes me but has been worked in nicely with the composition. Enjoy.

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Never say never...... I was wondering around the hallowed halls of eBay this evening (8/16/2022) in my constant search for ephermera when I happened upon a small photo which proves that even an amateur photographer in the 1950's can illustrate the concept of the "golden mean," apparently in this case without even trying. The square format of the photo has that "Hasselblad" quality to it and the subject matter just tickles the funny bone.... every growing boy needs his very own pet chicken!

 

Ivan Thiele (1877-1948) (Russian, 20th Century) Female Nude

I spotted this nicely executed female nude on one of the European Auction sites and thought I would share it with you.

Ivan Thiele (1877-1948) studied at the Imperial Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia before moving to

Paris, where he studied under JeanPaul Laurens, Gustave Courtois, and Raphael Collin. He painted many musicians and famous figures of the times including Foch, Joffre, and Pasteur. He also painted genre scenes inspired by Brittany. He exhibited at the Salon des Artistes Français from 1910, where he won an Honorable Mention in 1910 and a silver medal in 1941. (Source Benefit Dictionary of Artists, Vol. 13).

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Here are a few examples of his other works:

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