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six black and white illustrations of various people and animalsthe front cover of a book with a picture of a picture of a man in a suitan old book with a picture of a picture on ita black and white drawing of a man with a beardan image of a black and white drawing of a man with a bird in his handan image of a drawing of a man falling off of a treean image of a black and white drawing of two women on a beda black and white drawing of a woman sitting on top of a treean image of a black and white drawing of a man on a horsea black and white drawing of a man with a pipe in his mouthan image of a drawing of a man with a pipe in his mouthillustration of a man on a horse with a spear in his hand and another man on a horse with a spear in his handa black and white drawing of a man on a horsean image of a black and white drawing of a man on a horsean image of a black and white drawing of a man on a horse with a bird on his shoulderan image of a drawing of a windmill and a birdan image of a black and white drawing of a castle on a hilldrawing of a man standing next to a horse drawn carriage with a man standing next to ita drawing of a man standing next to a horse and carriage
Widder Auktionen

287 - Friedrich Mayer-Beck*
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Estimate €100 - €200
Sale commission
Description
Friedrich Mayer-Beck* (Vienna 1907–1977 Leoben) Don Quixote set of 9 woodcuts based on Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote woodcut on paper, c. 20 x 15 cm signed F Mayer-Beck ESTIMATE €100–€200 STARTING PRICE €100 The artist was born Friedrich Mayer in Vienna. His family moved to Horn in Lower Austria in 1916. Following the death of his parents, he was brought up in Vienna from the age of fourteen by his aunt Maria Beck and her husband, the landscape painter Friedrich Beck. He later adopted his uncle’s surname as his artist’s name. After graduating from secondary school, Mayer-Beck studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He attended the general painting school under Wilhelm Dachauer and then the master school for painting under Rudolf Bacher until 1933. In the meantime, he obtained teaching qualifications in ‘freehand drawing’ for secondary schools, as well as in mathematics and descriptive geometry. After completing the masterclass, Mayer-Beck worked as an assistant teacher from 1934, later as an assistant teacher in Graz at the Akademisches Gymnasium and at the 2nd Staatsgymnasium in Grabenstraße. In the 1930s, his art centred on expressive wood engravings, although the majority of his works were lost during the turmoil of the war. In 1939, Mayer-Beck married the actress Maria Kindl. At the end of the Second World War, he lost his job in Graz for political reasons. In October 1945, he became an assistant teacher at the Bundesrealgymnasium in Leoben, where he was offered a permanent post in 1949.He was a member of the artists’ association in Graz and, in 1947, a founding member of the ‘Upper Styrian Cultural Association’, on whose behalf he also gave lectures and courses on art and art history. Mayer-Beck received several major commissions for public spaces; for example, in 1954 he designed the floor-to-ceiling sgraffito in a municipal housing complex (the so-called ‘U-Block’) in Leitendorf and was involved in the interior design of the Leoben-Göß nursery school. His designs for tapestries in the meeting room of the Leoben district administration were realised in the field of applied arts. In 1969, he was awarded the Silver Medal of Honour for services to the Republic of Austria by the Federal President and retired as a senior teacher in 1971. He then retired to his second home near Seckau Abbey to devote himself to intensive work. Despite health problems, this period became one of the most artistically productive of his life, particularly in terms of reverse-glass painting. In Leoben, he created woodcut cycles, book illustrations, drawings and reverse-glass paintings, which became the primary means of expression in his work. His last monumental work was the series of murals in the Raiffeisenkasse, Hauptplatz 15, in 1975–76. His estate was bequeathed to the Museum of the City of Leoben by his widow in 1996. Further artists and styles: Rudolf Bacher, Josef Dobrowsky, Künstlerhaus Vienna, Styrian Modernism, Industrial Painting, Expressionism 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 statutory sales tax of 13% (20% 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% 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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