Fritz Klimsch - Frühling - image-1

Lot 418 D

Fritz Klimsch - Frühling

Auction 1070 - overview Cologne
03.06.2016, 18:00 - Modern Art
Estimate: 35.000 € - 40.000 €
Result: 37.200 € (incl. premium)

Fritz Klimsch

Frühling
1925/1926

Bronze Height 178.5 cm Monogrammed 'F K' and foundry mark "H. NOACK BERLIN" rear left on the irregularly shaped, cast-with plinth (5.3 x 36 x 29 cm). - Fine bronze-coloured patina, partially lightened. - Minimal linear rubbing to the torso.

“In spite of the arms' jubilantly striving upwards, the gentle melancholy of Mozart's May Song nonetheless resonates in 'Frühling'”, states Uli Klimsch in reference to his father's work (Uli Klimsch, Fritz Klimsch. Die Welt des Bildhauers, Berlin 1938, p. 66). The well-tempered dynamism of this nearly life-sized bronze really does seem to be imbued with a quiet musicality.
Along with music, the relationship between mankind and nature is among the recurrent themes in Fritz Klimsch's sculptural oeuvre. His preferred means to symbolise the diverse range of this relationship was the female nude. Not just “Frühling”, but also works such as “Frühlingsahnen” of 1923, “In der Sonne” of 1925/1926, “Sturm” of 1932, “In Wind und Sonne” of 1936 or “Sommertag” of 1937 (see Braun 116, 126, 159, 176, 184) impressively attest to his lasting occupation with this thematic complex.
Through fine nuances of gesture and pose, Klimsch is able to create subtle variations on a wide spectrum of feelings and moods: his “Frühling” is defined by a juvenile freshness and delicate elegance. With her head turned pensively to the side, the young woman's supple body seems to stretch gracefully towards the sun.

Catalogue Raisonné

Braun 134 (here with slightly divergent dimensions)

Provenance

South German private collection (acquired from the art trade in the 1980s)

Literature

Uli Klimsch, Fritz Klimsch. Die Welt des Bildhauers, Berlin 1938, p. 66 with full-page illus. p. 73; Hermann Braun, Fritz Klimsch. Werke, Hannover 1980, no. 23 with full-page colour illus. p. 62

Exhibitions

Berlin 1926 (Preussische Akademie der Künste zu Berlin. Frühjahrs-Ausstellung), Fritz Klimsch, Kollektivausstellung, cat. no. 315 ("Der Frühling. Gips. Verkäuflich."); Berlin 1932 (Preussische Akademie der Künste zu Berlin), Herbstausstellung cat. no. 249 ("Frühling. Bronze."); Berlin 1938 (Ausstellungsgebäunde Tiergartenstraße 21 a), Sonderausstellung Fritz Klimsch. Plastik, cat. no. 11 ("Frühling. Gipsmodell"); Frankfurt 2010 (Museum Giersch), Die Bildhauer August Gaul und Fritz Klimsch, p. 252 with full-page colour illus. no. 130