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an old drawing of a woman sitting on a bed next to a horsean image of a drawing of a woman holding a baby
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Estimate €700 - €900
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Description
Theatre by Hofmann, Ludwig 4 works. The Annunciation by the Angels. Illustration designs for Gerhart Hauptmann’s *Hannele’s Ascension*. Circa 1894. Pastel and charcoal on brown vellum. 24 x 36.5 cm and 23.7 x 36.8 cm. A host of angels. Illustration design for Gerhart Hauptmann’s *Hannele’s Ascension*. Charcoal and pastel on paper. 22 x 17 cm. Partially mounted on a backing. - Royal theatre scene. Circa 1894. Charcoal on handmade paper. 24 x 20 cm (30.5 x 20.5 cm). Mounted in places on a backing board. - Left margin rubbed; verso with subtle brown staining. - Paper yellowed and left-hand edge with a torn edge. Slight creases in the corners. Overall, very good condition. Each mounted on a backing in places. - One work bears annotations on the reverse. Paper rubbed and with slight tears at the edges. Overall, good condition. Both prints were produced during the formative phase in which Ludwig von Hofmann – having trained at the Dresden Academy, under Ferdinand Keller in Karlsruhe and at the Académie Julian under the formative influence of Puvis de Chavannes – – was breaking away from his historicist roots and developing the lyrical, decorative pictorial style that would, shortly afterwards, make him one of the leading illustrators for the magazine *Pan* and, in 1899, a founding member of the Berlin Secession. The designs, dated around 1894, thus fall squarely within the crucial transitional period between his academic training and the Symbolist maturation of his oeuvre. The subject matter is Gerhart Hauptmann’s dream poem *Hannele*, which translates the feverish delirium of a dying girl from the poorhouse into a sequence of images featuring both menacing and comforting apparitions, culminating in the announcement of heavenly salvation by angelic messengers – an interweaving of a naturalistic milieu of misery and a Symbolist vision of salvation that epitomises the aesthetic climate of the 1890s. Hofmann translates this literary vision into a pared-back, atmospherically shadowed visual language: The kneeling figure of the girl, her hands clasped and facing the dream-like image, emerges as the only clearly contoured form from a half-light of shadowy figures which – little more than fleeting outlines — seem to emerge directly from the dying woman’s state of consciousness. The soft pastel modelling on the warm-toned Veliné deliberately eschews narrative detail in favour of a suggestive condensation that is perfectly in keeping with the visionary character of the poetry and, at the same time, foreshadows Hofmann’s later visual language, characterised by rhythmic lines and dreamlike detachment. The two sheets, which are almost identical in size, form a compositional counterpart and thus provide a rare, direct record of the visual artist’s response to Hauptmann’s work – a point of reference that exemplifies Hofmann’s position at the intersection of literary Symbolism and the emerging Art Nouveau movement. Theatre. 4 works. Annunciation of the Angels. Illustration designs for Gerhart Hauptmann’s *Hannele’s Ascension* (*Hanneles Himmelfahrt*). Each circa 1894. Pastel and charcoal on brown vellum paper. 24 x 36.5 cm and 23.7 x 36.8 cm respectively. Each mounted at points onto a backing sheet. – Charcoal and pastel on paper. Partially mounted on a backing board. – The paper has yellowed and the left-hand edge is torn. There are small creases in the corners. Overall in very good condition. - One work has annotations on the reverse. The paper is rubbed and has slight tears at the edges. Overall in good condition. The two sheets date from that formative period during which Ludwig von Hofmann – trained at the Dresden Academy, under Ferdinand Keller in Karlsruhe, and at the Académie Julian under the formative influence of Puvis de Chavannes – broke away from his historicist roots and arrived at the lyrical, decorative pictorial style that would soon make him one of the leading illustrators of the journal ‘Pan’ and, in 1899, a founding member of the Berlin Secession. Dated to around 1894, these designs thus fall squarely within the crucial transitional period between his academic training and the Symbolist maturation of his oeuvre.Their subject is Gerhart Hauptmann’s dream-drama *Hannele*, which had premiered the previous year; it translates the feverish delirium of a dying workhouse girl into a sequence of threatening and consoling apparitions, culminating in the announcement of heavenly redemption by angelic messengers – a fusion of naturalistic scenes of destitution with a Symbolist vision of salvation that epitomises the aesthetic climate of the 1890s. Hofmann translates this literary vision into a pared-back, atmospherically shadowed pictorial language: the kneeling girl, her hands clasped as she turns towards the dream vision, emerges as the only clearly defined form from a half-darkness of figures indicated only schematically, which – barely more than fleeting contour lines – seem to step directly out of the dying girl’s state of consciousness. The soft pastel modelling on the warm-toned vellum deliberately dispenses with narrative elaboration in favour of a suggestive condensation that is in keeping with the visionary character of the play, whilst at the same time anticipating Hofmann’s later pictorial language, characterised by rhythmic line and dreamlike remoteness.The two sheets, which are almost identical in size, form a compositional pair and thus provide a rare, direct testimony to the pictorial response to Hauptmann’s work – a point of reference that exemplifies Hofmann’s position at the intersection of literary Symbolism and the emerging Jugendstil. This lot is subject to standard tax. A 24.95% buyer’s premium is payable on the hammer price, and 7% (Books and Art) or 19% VAT (Manuscripts, Screenprints, Offset Prints, Photographs) is payable on the final invoice amount within the European Union. This lot is subject to standard taxation. A 24.95% buyer’s premium applies to the hammer price, and 7% (books and art) or 19% VAT (manuscripts, screen prints, offset prints and photographs) applies to the final invoice amount within the European Union.
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About the sale Valuable books, prints, historical photographs
Auction location
Auction time 10/24/2026 at 10:00 AM
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