Fritz Klimsch
Jugend
1940/1941
Bronze Height 158.5 cm Monogrammed 'FK' (joined) on the cast-with plinth (5 x 35 x 31 cm) on the back left side and with foundry stamp "H. NOACK BERLIN" on the back left plinth edge. Presumably posthumous cast. - Medium brown, partially lightened patina.
The classic looking “Jugend” is Klimsch's last near life-size bronze figure. It marks the end of a series of bronze standing female nudes by the sculptor to which “Frühling” (1932), “Eva” (1933) and “In Wind und Sonne” (1936) also belong.
Hermann Braun explains: “An enchanting, slender creature with a high bosom presents itself with an averted gaze. The posture is completely calm and confident; alone the hands reveal a remainder of timidness. It is as if the fingers were seeking refuge in the palms. At the same time, this motif leads the slightly withdrawn and sideways outstretched arms back to the body. The averted head, with a combed-back and very female hairstyle, shows a clear profile, her eyes gazing into the distance.” (Hermann Braun, Fritz Klimsch. Eine Dokumentation, Cologne 1991, p. 399)
Klimsch's model was the 19 year-old Magrit Schlömer. Her boyfriend, the art enthusiast and young lawyer Dr. Hanswilly Bernartz, had sent Klimsch a nude photo of Schlömer in April 1940, enquiring whether she would not be an ideal model for him.
Catalogue Raisonné
Braun 207
Provenance
Galerie Westenhoff, Lübeck (1981); Private collection since, Rhineland
Literature
Werner Rittich, Neue Werke von Fritz Klimsch, in: Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich, 6th vol., no. 4, April 1942, pp. 88 f. with illus.; Uli Klimsch, Fritz Klimsch. Freie Schöpfungen, Berlin 1949, illus. nos. 66 and 67; Hermann Braun, Fritz Klimsch. Werke, Hanover 1980, no. 38 with illus. p. 92
Exhibitions
Berlin 1942 (Preußische Akademie der Künste), Fritz Klimsch. Sonder-Ausstellung. 3. Frühjahrs-Ausstellung Mai-Juni , cat. no. 204, p. 14; Frankfurt 2010 (Museum Giersch), Die Bildhauer August Gaul und Fritz Klimsch, pp. 278 f. with 3 colour illus. cat. nos. 149-151