Bronze with green-brown patina. Incised signature near the side of the base, with the estate stamp and the foundry mark on the base. Cast during the artist's lifetime. One of 6 + 1 copies. 41 x 27 x 26 cm. Cast by Richard Barth, Berlin.
• Along with Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Jean Arp, Hartung was one of a select group of European sculptors who found their way to abstraction as early as the 1930s. • Key work: the first abstract work in the artist's oeuvre. • Cast in his lifetime. • Reduced formal language of timeless beauty. • Copies of this bronze were shown at, among others, Hartung's first solo exhibition at Galerie Gerd Rosen in 1946, and the comprehensive retrospective at Haus am Waldsee in Berlin in 1952. • One copy is in the collection of the Schleswig-Holstein State Museums Foundation, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig. • This is the first time that a copy of this bronze is offered on the auction market (source: artprice.com). We are grateful to the Karl Hartung Estate for the kind support in cataloging this lot. LITERATURE: Markus Krause, Karl Hartung 1908-1967. Metamorphosen von Mensch und Natur. Monograph and catalogue raisonné, Munich 1998, cat. no. 149 (with full-page illu. on p. 39 and b/w illu. on p. 195). - - Juliane Roh, Deutsche Bildhauer der Gegenwart, Munich 1957 (illustrated, no. 21). Carl Linfert, Karl Hartung, in: Junge Künstler 1959/60. 5 Monographien deutscher Künstler der Gegenwart, Cologne 1959, p. 21 (illustrated). Katharina Schneider, Die drei Berliner Bildhauer Uhlmann, Hartung und Heiliger. Zur Entwicklung der abstrakten deutschen Plastik zwischen 1945 und 1950, in: Ulrich Schneider (ed.), Festschrift Günther Bott, Nuremberg 1987, p. 297 (illustrated).
(Each presumably a different copy) Karl Hartung. Plastik und Graphik, Galerie Gerd Rosen, Berlin, April 1946. Karl Hartung, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Sept. 2-Oct. 12, 1952, cat. no. 2. Karl Hartung, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, May 28 - June 28, 1953, later also: Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Bremer Kunsthalle; Kölnischer Kunstverein et al., cat. no. 3. Deutscher Künstlerbund. Zehnte Ausstellung, Haus der Kunst, Munich, October 18 - December 11, 1960, cat. no. 377 (ill. Traum - Zeichen - Raum: Benennung des Unbekannten. Kunst in den Jahren 1924 bis 1939, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Oct. 23 - Dec. 12, 1965, cat. no. 44 (ill. Für Karl Hartung. Memorial exhibition at the 15th German Artists' Federation Exhibition, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Sept. 23 - Oct. 29, 1967, cat. no. 1. Karl Hartung 1908-1967. Eine Werkübersicht zum 80. Geburtstag, Galerie Pels-Leusden, Berlin, Sept. 3-Oct. 29, 1988, cat. no. 4 (with full-page color ill., p. 11). Karl Hartung. Werke und Dokumente, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg; March 5 - June 1, 1998, Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen, Jan. 31 - April 11, 1999; et al., p. 38 (ill. Karl Hartung - Die Hamburger Jahre. Kunst in der Handelskammer Hamburg, May 21 - June 27, 2008, with a full-page color ill., p. 27. Karl Hartung. Aufbruch - Aufbrüche, Kunsthalle Schweinfurt, Nov. 21, 2014 - April 12, 2015, p. 13 (ill. Henry Moore. Impuls für Europa, LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster (in cooperation with Tate London), Nov. 11, 2016 - Mar. 19, 2017, cat. no. 108 (with full-page ill., p. 204). Reine Formsache. Hommage an Karl Hartung, Herbert Gerisch-Foundation, Neumünster, July 16 - December 17, 2023
From the artist's estate
Alongside Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Jean Arp, Hartung was among the exceptional European sculptors who had already found their way to an abstract formal language by the 1930s. These years were formative in many respects, and the works he created at the time were groundbreaking for his later sculptural oeuvre. Due to the National Socialists' understanding of art, it was hardly possible for German artists at the time to adapt to the official art dictate and at the same time maintain their artistic freedom and individuality. Hartung continued to work within figuration, but when the present work was created, he also made a few abstract animal sculptures, only to turn to the "Durchlöcherten Form" (Perforated Form) in a radical stylistic turn. “Hartung took an artistic leap with the "Durchlöcherte Form" from 1935. A leap in two regards: first, because this consistent abstraction emerged relatively suddenly; second, because Hartung applied a new, biomorphic-vegetative pictorial language that represented a complete break with the tectonics of his earlier works. [...] For him, sculpture was a breakthrough and the beginning of numerous experiments in the boundless field of free form.” (Markus Krause, in: Karl Hartung 1908-1967. Metamorphosen von Mensch und Natur. Monograph and catalogue raisonné, Munich 1998, p. 30) Following this detachment from naturalistic and realistic sculpture, only a few more abstract works were created in the 1930s - the risk of defamation by the National Socialists was too high. According to the records, the Gestapo searched Hartung's studio, and he was lucky enough to hide his progressive works in a box covered with some cloths and lumps of clay (see CR Krause, p. 67). The works were not exhibited publicly until after the war and remained hidden in the studio as silent witnesses to his true artistic convictions. Given the time of its origin, the degree of abstraction of the piece offered here is remarkable. With its softly modulated, strongly rounded contours and the two openings that partially reveal the space surrounding the bronze, the figure presents itself as a closed yet dynamic entity with a radically modern, sensual aesthetic. Together with the subsequent abstract works, which were initially created in secret, the early "Durchlöcherte Form" manifested Karl Hartung's rank as an acclaimed representative of modern sculpture. [CH/AIH]
Elegant bronze in very good condition. The patina shimmers between dark brown, anthracite and green. There are a few tiny irregularities in the casting and a few very fine traces of rubbing. There is a small white adhesion and a tiny scuffmark in the bottom near the base.
Lot Details
Bronze with green-brown patina. Incised signature near the side of the base, with the estate stamp and the foundry mark on the base. Cast during the artist's lifetime. One of 6 + 1 copies. 41 x 27 x 26 cm. Cast by Richard Barth, Berlin.
• Along with Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Jean Arp, Hartung was one of a select group of European sculptors who found their way to abstraction as early as the 1930s. • Key work: the first abstract work in the artist's oeuvre. • Cast in his lifetime. • Reduced formal language of timeless beauty. • Copies of this bronze were shown at, among others, Hartung's first solo exhibition at Galerie Gerd Rosen in 1946, and the comprehensive retrospective at Haus am Waldsee in Berlin in 1952. • One copy is in the collection of the Schleswig-Holstein State Museums Foundation, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig. • This is the first time that a copy of this bronze is offered on the auction market (source: artprice.com). We are grateful to the Karl Hartung Estate for the kind support in cataloging this lot. LITERATURE: Markus Krause, Karl Hartung 1908-1967. Metamorphosen von Mensch und Natur. Monograph and catalogue raisonné, Munich 1998, cat. no. 149 (with full-page illu. on p. 39 and b/w illu. on p. 195). - - Juliane Roh, Deutsche Bildhauer der Gegenwart, Munich 1957 (illustrated, no. 21). Carl Linfert, Karl Hartung, in: Junge Künstler 1959/60. 5 Monographien deutscher Künstler der Gegenwart, Cologne 1959, p. 21 (illustrated). Katharina Schneider, Die drei Berliner Bildhauer Uhlmann, Hartung und Heiliger. Zur Entwicklung der abstrakten deutschen Plastik zwischen 1945 und 1950, in: Ulrich Schneider (ed.), Festschrift Günther Bott, Nuremberg 1987, p. 297 (illustrated).
(Each presumably a different copy) Karl Hartung. Plastik und Graphik, Galerie Gerd Rosen, Berlin, April 1946. Karl Hartung, Haus am Waldsee, Berlin, Sept. 2-Oct. 12, 1952, cat. no. 2. Karl Hartung, Kestner-Gesellschaft, Hanover, May 28 - June 28, 1953, later also: Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen; Museum Folkwang, Essen; Bremer Kunsthalle; Kölnischer Kunstverein et al., cat. no. 3. Deutscher Künstlerbund. Zehnte Ausstellung, Haus der Kunst, Munich, October 18 - December 11, 1960, cat. no. 377 (ill. Traum - Zeichen - Raum: Benennung des Unbekannten. Kunst in den Jahren 1924 bis 1939, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne, Oct. 23 - Dec. 12, 1965, cat. no. 44 (ill. Für Karl Hartung. Memorial exhibition at the 15th German Artists' Federation Exhibition, Badischer Kunstverein, Karlsruhe, Sept. 23 - Oct. 29, 1967, cat. no. 1. Karl Hartung 1908-1967. Eine Werkübersicht zum 80. Geburtstag, Galerie Pels-Leusden, Berlin, Sept. 3-Oct. 29, 1988, cat. no. 4 (with full-page color ill., p. 11). Karl Hartung. Werke und Dokumente, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg; March 5 - June 1, 1998, Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen, Jan. 31 - April 11, 1999; et al., p. 38 (ill. Karl Hartung - Die Hamburger Jahre. Kunst in der Handelskammer Hamburg, May 21 - June 27, 2008, with a full-page color ill., p. 27. Karl Hartung. Aufbruch - Aufbrüche, Kunsthalle Schweinfurt, Nov. 21, 2014 - April 12, 2015, p. 13 (ill. Henry Moore. Impuls für Europa, LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur, Münster (in cooperation with Tate London), Nov. 11, 2016 - Mar. 19, 2017, cat. no. 108 (with full-page ill., p. 204). Reine Formsache. Hommage an Karl Hartung, Herbert Gerisch-Foundation, Neumünster, July 16 - December 17, 2023
From the artist's estate
Alongside Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, and Jean Arp, Hartung was among the exceptional European sculptors who had already found their way to an abstract formal language by the 1930s. These years were formative in many respects, and the works he created at the time were groundbreaking for his later sculptural oeuvre. Due to the National Socialists' understanding of art, it was hardly possible for German artists at the time to adapt to the official art dictate and at the same time maintain their artistic freedom and individuality. Hartung continued to work within figuration, but when the present work was created, he also made a few abstract animal sculptures, only to turn to the "Durchlöcherten Form" (Perforated Form) in a radical stylistic turn. “Hartung took an artistic leap with the "Durchlöcherte Form" from 1935. A leap in two regards: first, because this consistent abstraction emerged relatively suddenly; second, because Hartung applied a new, biomorphic-vegetative pictorial language that represented a complete break with the tectonics of his earlier works. [...] For him, sculpture was a breakthrough and the beginning of numerous experiments in the boundless field of free form.” (Markus Krause, in: Karl Hartung 1908-1967. Metamorphosen von Mensch und Natur. Monograph and catalogue raisonné, Munich 1998, p. 30) Following this detachment from naturalistic and realistic sculpture, only a few more abstract works were created in the 1930s - the risk of defamation by the National Socialists was too high. According to the records, the Gestapo searched Hartung's studio, and he was lucky enough to hide his progressive works in a box covered with some cloths and lumps of clay (see CR Krause, p. 67). The works were not exhibited publicly until after the war and remained hidden in the studio as silent witnesses to his true artistic convictions. Given the time of its origin, the degree of abstraction of the piece offered here is remarkable. With its softly modulated, strongly rounded contours and the two openings that partially reveal the space surrounding the bronze, the figure presents itself as a closed yet dynamic entity with a radically modern, sensual aesthetic. Together with the subsequent abstract works, which were initially created in secret, the early "Durchlöcherte Form" manifested Karl Hartung's rank as an acclaimed representative of modern sculpture. [CH/AIH]
Elegant bronze in very good condition. The patina shimmers between dark brown, anthracite and green. There are a few tiny irregularities in the casting and a few very fine traces of rubbing. There is a small white adhesion and a tiny scuffmark in the bottom near the base.
