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an image of a drawing of a woman holding a childan image of a black and white drawing of a man and a womanan image of a white square pillow on a white background
Widder Auktionen

Estimate €100 - €200
Sale commission
Description
Hans Fronius* (Sarajevo 1903 – 1988 Mödling) Pilate, 1977 etching on paper, 25.5 x 17.7 cm signed Hans Fronius, dated 77 inscribed ‘12th ex’ inscribed on the plate ‘Pilatus’ ESTIMATE €100 – €200 STARTING PRICE €100 Hans Fronius, great-grandson of the Biedermann painter and engraver Johann Nepomuks Pasini, was an Austrian artist who initially worked exclusively in woodcut. As a child, Fronius witnessed the assassination attempt on the heir to the throne, Franz Ferdinand. This experience is said to have shaped him throughout his life. In July 1914, he moved to Graz with his mother and sister. After the war, their father joined them. From 1922 to 1928, Fronius studied at the Vienna Academy under Karl Sterrer and Alois Delug. He steered clear of his teachers’ academic historicism and their traditional formal language. His interests in art history and painting centred on the works of Charles Meryon and Goya. James Ensor, Edvard Munch and the German Expressionists were also sources of inspiration. Franz’s work drew him towards pictorial design from an early age: whilst still at secondary school, he tried his hand at illustrating Georg Büchner’s *Danton’s Death*, and Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky and Chekhov also captivated him. During the holidays, made possible by the father of his painter friend Dolf Winternitz, he undertook study trips to Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and France. In 1930, Fronius decided to sit the teaching examination in art, mathematics and descriptive geometry. Teaching – initially at Fürstenfeld secondary school and, from 1960 to 1965, in Mödling – provided his livelihood. His artistic breakthrough came with the dedication of the woodcut series for Kafka’s story “The Metamorphosis” (1931) to Alfred Kubin. A lifelong friendship developed between Fronius and Kafka. Fronius, a member of the Graz Secession since 1923, continued to paint in the Expressionist style during the Nazi era. After the first exhibition of his illustrations of Kafka’s work took place at the Prague Art Association in 1936 at Max Brod’s instigation, he was forced to take a stand regarding his “Jewish illustrations” and pledge his loyalty. Some of his exhibitions were repeatedly banned. During the war, Fronius was employed as a frontline draughtsman in Stalingrad and Italy. During a short holiday in 1944, he produced 26 chalk drawings of Suetonius’s Nero from the emperor’s biographies. In 1961, Fronius moved to Perchtoldsdorf near Vienna. From 1964 until his death in 1988, he worked exclusively as a freelance artist. His paintings and graphic works are described as ‘Expressive Realism’ due to their spontaneous style, narrative power and vivid imagination. The thematic range extends from portraits and literary motifs to landscapes and cityscapes. Fronius also worked as an illustrator, publishing a total of 115 books and portfolios. Of particular significance here are his illustrations for works by Franz Kafka and Edgar Allan Poe, which are known to a wide audience and which can be placed alongside the 13 drawings based on Robert Louis Stevenson. In his autobiographical publication *Bilderbuch eines Lebens* (*Picture Book of a Life*), Fronius explains that his work is indebted to the “constellation of Goya, Ensor and Kubin”. Further artists and styles: Alfred Kubin, Karl Sterrer, Alois Delug, Charles Meryon, Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, James Ensor, Max Brod, Franz Kafka, Edgar Allan Poe, Graz Secession, Vienna Academy, Expressionism, woodcut, book illustration, Kafka graphics, Fürstenfeld, Mödling, Perchtoldsdorf, Hermann Serient, Wilhelm Jaruska PLEASE NOTE: The purchase price comprises the highest bid plus the buyer’s premium, VAT and, where applicable, the artists’ resale rights fee and platform fee. In the case of standard taxation (marked °), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax of 13 per cent (20 per cent for photographs) is added to the sum of the highest bid, the buyer’s premium and the platform fee. The buyer’s premium amounts to 28 per cent in the case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.
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About the sale Modern Art
Auction location
Auction time 09/30/2026 at 10:00 AM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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