Oskar Kokoschka
Toter Hase, Elrig
1941-1945
Colour chalk drawing on ivory-coloured drawing paper with oval embossing "ATELIER KOKOSCHKA" 25.1 x 35.4 Framed under glass. Unsigned. - Unfinished sketches in blue chalk verso. - Minor creasing in the margins.
According to information kindly provided by Katharina Erling, this charmingly beautiful sheet came from Kokoschka's Scottish sketchbook. Olda Kokoschka described the motif, which is known at the Kokoschka Stiftung, as “Toter Hase, Elrig”. In the 1940s Kokoschka regularly travelled from London to Scotland with Olda during late summer or autumn “and drew motifs in nature there, repeatedly also animals. He accordingly saw and sketched the dead hare in Elrig (near Port William), where he stayed for several weeks during August, September or October of every year from 1941 to 1945.” (Katharina Erling).
Certificate
We would like to thank Alfred Weidinger, Vienna, for kind confirmatory information; the sheet is known to him and will be registered in the catalogue raisonné of works on paper by Oskar Kokoschka currently under preparation.
We would like to thank Katharina Erling, Bremen, for kind additional advice.
Provenance
Artist's estate; Private possession since, Switzerland (acquired from Olda Kokoschka)