C. Bull (?): Pan Playing a Flute - Bronze circa 1900

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This nice bronze study of the male physique posed as "Pan Playing the Flute" turned up on one of the European eBay auction sites last week .It is signed "C. Bull" and, unfortunately, I could find nothing on the artist. The Lauchhammer Foundry mark appears on the stand. Lauchhammer Foundry is a well known metals foundry in Germany.

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Alfred Waagner (1886-1960): Jugendstil Nudes - Circa 1920

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I visited the Boris Wilnitsky Gallery website last week since it has been quite some time since my last visit. They have a discount sale running on many of their artworks for the holidays so if you are interested then please pay them a visit. They have several works by the Austrian painter and commercial artist Alfred Waagner (1886-1960) so I thought I would post them for you. Alfred Waagner was strongly under the influence of another famous Viennese artist, Gustav Klimt. Initially Waagner studied chemistry and mechanical engineering at the Technical Institute in Viennia but by 1907 his interest had changed to art. It was during this time that he became a pupil of the Viennese Art Nouveau artist, Professor Berthold Loeffler and even worked in his studio at the Vienna School of Applied Arts until 1912. He regularly exhibited with the Vienna Secessionists as early as 1913. In 1924, he had his first one-man show in Vienna.

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Adonis - 1920 (All Above)

Spring of Life - 1921

Reclining Female Nude (Late 1910's)

(Illustrations above courtsey Boris Wilnitsky Gallery, Vienna, Austria)

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Here are a few additional examples of his works:

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Children Playing at Lakeside

Nude Girl Holding a Ceramic Pot

Two Boys Fishing for Minnows

Jugend und Tod - 1914

Baden der Knabe - (?)

Julius Vogel's 1925 " Kunstler Monographien: Otto Greiner" - Book Illustrations

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The 1925 Artist Monograph by Julius Vogel on Otto Greiner arrived from Germany last week. I have scanned many of the illustrations of academic studies for you (below). What amazes me most about Greiner was his ability to inject such movement in basically a static nude pose. Every ripple of muscle and sinew was captured to perfection. He made it look like childsplay and you and I both know that that kind of skill and talent only comes around once in a lifetime. The book is written in that old style German script and for me is a bear to read so I just copied the description of each study along with the illustration. Enjoy.

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Unknown French School: Standing Male Nude - Circa 1865

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A seller on eBay France has posted this nice academic study of a Male Nude which dates from the mid-19th century. Unfortunately it is not signed and the artist (accomplished, obviously) is unknown. I would wager he was a student at the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. I have a similar painting with that same curving background in my collection.

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Julius Obst (1878-1939): Nude Male Youth Playing The Flute - Bronze

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I keep running across these beautifully lyrical works in the auction house archives. This time it is a bronze study of a nude male youth playing the flute by the German artist Julius Obst (1878-1939).  It seems the artist has perfectly captured that time between boyhood and manhood, before the passage of time changes his body forever, with that carefree stance, the youthful musculature, the idea of youthful days spent just doing nothing but standing around playing the flute (stupid video games these days).  I hate it when I find a work like this and then dig and dig and dig and come up empty handed on biographical information on the artist. It seems, based upon the other works I found, that Obst latched onto a motif he liked (flute playing) and let his creative genius fly with it. I have included several examples of his other works below.

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Julies Obst (1878 - 1939): Nude Male Youth Playing the Flute - 1908

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Here are a few examples of his other works:

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