Philipp Otto Schäfer
Allegory of Air
Tempera on cardboard. 69 x 95 cm.
Under glass in the original artist's frame.
Signed lower right: Phil. Otto Schaefer.
The "Four Elements" series by Philipp Otto Schäfer was exhibited at the annual exhibition of the Munich Glaspalast in 1903. The "Allegory of the Air" shows a scene in the clouds with the lovers Venus and Mars. The god of war is leaving his lover, with their son Cupid standing between them with bow and arrow. Two winged cherubs gathered around a fireplace symbolise the motto "Sine Cerere et Baccho friget Venus" (Without Ceres and Bacchus, Venus freezes), which is familiar from emblematics and European Renaissance and Baroque art. The "Allegory of Air" is the counterpart to the "Allegory of Fire", which shows the gigantic volcano, Venus' consort, in his forge. Philipp Otto Schäfer, who worked in Munich from 1888 to the end of 1908, belonged to the Luitpold Group. His early exploration of antiquity and the Renaissance led him deeper and deeper into this world, which had a lasting influence on his artistic direction. The allegories of the four elements are characteristic works for Schäfer's artistic work, his subjects and a very unique colouring.
Provenance
Northern German private collection. - Southern German private collection.
Literature
Official Catalog of the Munich Annual Exhibition 1903, Royal Glass palace, 2nd. ed., 25.6.1903, no. 999 d, p. 99 (not illustrated). - A. H.: Philipp Otto Schaefer, Die Kunst für Alle, vol. 24, issue 12, 15.3.1909, pp. 273-281, p. 280 (fig. Allegory of Fire) and p. 281 (fig. Allegory of Water). - Kunstchronik, N.F. 20, 1909, pp. 99-101 (mentions "Allegorie des Feuers").
Exhibitions
Munich Annual Exhibition 1903, Royal Glass palace, no. 999d.