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drawing of a woman sitting on a chair talking to a young boydrawing of a man and a woman standing in front of a counter
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861 - Modern and Contemporary Art Turn of the Century Mock, Fritz …
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Estimate €750 - €1,000
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Description
Modern and Contemporary Art Turn of the Century Mock, Fritz Collection of 12 original drawings. (Everyday genre scenes). 1892–1900. Pen, ink and watercolour, partly in grisaille on vellum. Mostly signed or monogrammed (occasionally also signed as F. or E. Mock). Various sizes: 22 x 27 cm (22.6 x 27.6 cm) to 30.5 x 25 cm (35.7 x 25.6 cm). - Precise pen-and-ink drawings, some in deep black ink and tonal ink washes, complemented by very subtle, earthy watercolour washes. DB, 103719330X. – SIKART. Encyclopaedia of Art in Switzerland, 4026019. - Mock received his artistic training in Munich as a pupil of Heinz Hein, Karl Raupp and Franz von Lenbach – three leading figures of the late Munich School, who practised portraiture, genre and society painting to a high technical standard. Stylistically, the drawings bridge the gap between the German illustrative realism of the Gründerzeit and early Art Nouveau. All the sheets depict bourgeois genre scenes – the intimacy of the domestic salon, the teacher-pupil relationship or elegant social appearances.The original drawings are rare primary evidence of Mock’s working practice as an illustrator: they reveal his artistic style prior to the transfer to print, complete with spontaneous corrections, measurements and the characteristic looseness of the wash in the grisaille manner – that is, works executed exclusively in shades of black, grey and white, deriving their spatial depth solely from the gradation of light and shadow – a quality that was often lost in print. In his drawings, Mock masterfully conveys a subtle sensitivity to the social milieu of the Belle Époque bourgeoisie. Ultimately, Mock’s works stand on the threshold of Art Nouveau, that European reform movement which flourished particularly vigorously in Switzerland between 1890 and 1914. The silhouette-like effect of the female figure from 1898, the decorative volume of the towering hats, the reduction of the backgrounds to flat, suggestive forms – these are features that point in the same direction. His closest formal counterpart is his American contemporary Charles Dana Gibson (also born in 1867), who worked with the same social motifs in black and white for the Anglo-American market. His Swiss contemporary Félix Vallotton dissected precisely the same bourgeois world through woodcuts and socially critical irony – Mock, on the other hand, depicts it with benevolent empathy and academic elegance, which makes the two of them the opposite poles of Swiss printmaking around 1900. Collection of 12 original drawings. (Scenes of everyday life). Pen, ink and watercolour, some in grisaille on vellum. Precise pen-and-ink drawings, partly in deep black ink and tonal ink washes, complemented by very restrained, earthy watercolour washes. Mock received his artistic training in Munich as a pupil of Heinz Hein, Karl Raupp and Franz von Lenbach – three leading figures of the late Munich School, who practised portraiture, genre and society painting to a high technical standard. Stylistically, the drawings lie between the German illustrative realism of the Wilhelmine era and early Art Nouveau. All the sheets depict bourgeois genre scenes – the intimacy of the domestic salon, the pedagogical relationship or the elegant social setting. The original drawings are rare primary evidence of Mock’s working practice as an illustrator: they reveal the artist’s signature style prior to the printing process, featuring spontaneous corrections, measurements and the characteristic looseness of the wash in the grisaille manner—that is, works that operate exclusively within the values of black, grey and white and derive their spatial depth solely from the gradation of light and shadow, which was often lost in the printing process. In his drawings, Mock masterfully conveys a subtle sensitivity to the social milieu of the Belle Époque bourgeoisie. Ultimately, Mock’s works stand on the threshold of Art Nouveau, that European reform movement which flourished particularly vigorously in Switzerland between 1890 and 1914. The silhouette effect of the female figure from 1898, the decorative volume of the towering hats, the reduction of the backgrounds to flat, suggestive forms – these are features that point in the same direction. His closest formal counterpart is the American contemporary Charles Dana Gibson (also born in 1867), who worked with the same social motifs in black and white for the Anglo-American market. His Swiss contemporary Félix Vallotton dissected precisely the same bourgeois world with woodcuts and socially critical irony – Mock, on the other hand, depicts it with benevolent empathy and academic elegance, making the two the opposite poles of Swiss graphic art around 1900.
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About the sale Modern and Contemporary Art
Auction location
Auction time 07/11/2026 at 11:00 AM
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