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painting of an elephant standing next to a little girl in front of a tentpainting of an elephant and a child on a beach with umbrellas
Widder Auktionen

Estimate €400 - €600
Sale commission
Description
Josef Gassler* (Austerlitz 1893 – 1978 Vienna) Circus elephant, c. 1925 oil on canvas, 55 x 50.5 cm signed Gassler ESTIMATE €400 – €600 STARTING PRICE €400 Josef Gassler was born in 1893 in Austerlitz, Moravia (now the Czech Republic). He studied in Breslau and at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Rudolf Bacher, Hans Tichy and Alois Delug. His early success at the Academy was abruptly cut short by the outbreak of the First World War. Deeply affected by the war, Gassler began to focus his work more intensely on melancholic subjects. From 1925 until 1927 he lived in Paris and travelled to Italy, the south of France, Prague, Vienna and Carlsbad. From 1927 he lived in Carlsbad, designing porcelain and glass for Moser and other Czechoslovak manufacturers, whilst also working on murals and theatrical scenery. From 1928 until 1939, he was a member of the Wiener Secession (Viennese Secession) and subsequently also a member of the Künstlerhaus. After the Second World War, Gassler moved to Vienna, where he remained for the rest of his life. His favourite subjects were still lifes, portraits and landscapes. He produced numerous frescoes in Bohemia and Moravia and created stage sets for the theatre in Carlsbad. Josef Gassler died in 1978 in Vienna. Further artists and styles: Expressionism, Alois Delug, Ludwig von Bacher, Heinrich Maria Davringhausen, Secession, Hagenbund, portrait painting, landscapes, still lifes, frescoes, stage design 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 per cent is added to the highest bid. The statutory 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, Lots 1–508: Starts at 10.00 am CET; Lots 509–981: Starts at 4.00 pm CET
Auction location
Auction time 09/30/2026 at 10:00 AM
Lot description modified on 09/26/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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