Palais Dorotheum

Hans Leonhard Schäuffelein (Nuremberg c. 1480-Nordlingen c. 1540) Christ before Pilate, woodcut c. 1507, on fine laid paper, a Latin inscription on the reverse, 23,2 x 16,2 cm, cropped along framing lines, Ho. 720, B. 34 II, mounted, unframed, (Sch) Provenance: Private collection, Germany. A splendid contemporary print of the first edition of Pinder, 1507 or of the second edition of Peypus Nuremberg 1519. Minor repairs, a repaired tear, thinned out areas, otherwise in good condition.

Franz Seraph Hanfstaengl (Baiernrain 1804-1877 Munich) A lady reading, 1856, salt paper, signed in the negative, dated, 28 x 22,5 cm, mounted on original studio card, 48,8 x 38,8 cm, some retouches, the card mildewed, with significant traces of wear, (EK) cf.: Bernard Marbot, Une invention du XIXe siecle: la photographie, exhibition catalogue Bibliotheque nationale de France, Paris 1976, ill.88

Yoshitomo Nara (born Japan in 1959) “Two Penguins”, on reverse titled, signed, dated Yoshitomo Nara 91 and 93 with dedication, acrylic on canvas, 55 x 70 cm, on stretcher, (PS) Provenance: Galerie 20.21, Essen Private Collection, North Rhine Westphalia Exhibition: Helsinki City Art Museum, Helsinki, Japan Pop, 9 September 2005 – 27 November 2005 Literature: Yoshimoto Nara, The Complete Works, San Francisco 2011, P-1991-034, ill. p. 078 “Since his public emergence in the late 1990s, Yoshimoto Nara has appealed to countless art lovers and professionals with his signature images of little girls with large heads and piercing eyes, dogs with benign smiles, and hybrid creatures blending the characteristics of children, animals and ghosts. Rendered with cartoon-like distortion, these images have been repeatedly featured and reshaped his paintings, drawings, sculptures, and more recently, ceramic objects. While Nara’’’’s art enjoys undeniable popularity, drawing tens of thousands of visitors to almost every exhibition, its critical evaluation has been many-sided, approached from such perspectives as the reemergence of figurative painting, the incorporation of pop subculture, representations of contemporary Asia, and the significance of the child in contemporary art.” Yoshimoto Nara, The Complete Works, San Francisco 2011, S. 330 Specialist: Dr. Petra Maria Schäpers

Fernand Léger * (Argentan 1881–1955 Gif-sur-Yvette) “Composition au fond jaune”, signed, dated F. Léger 32, titled verso, signed, dated F. Léger-32, oil on canvas, 65 x 54 cm, framed, (PP) Provenance: Studio of the artist no. 71 (inscription verso) Galerie Louise Leiris, Paris Private Collection, Europe Exhibitions: Fernand Léger, Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe/ Krakow, Muzeum Narodowe/ Lòdz, Muzeum Sztuki, 1971, no. 6; Paris, Galerie Louise Leiris, Fernand Léger, Etudes et tableaux, exh. cat. no. 30, ill. page 37 Literature: G. Bauquier, Fernand Léger, Catalogue raisonné 1932–1937, Adrien Maeght Editeur, 1996, pages 36–37, no. 810 with full-page ill. The random juxtaposition of unrelated elements brings Fernand Léger dangerously close to a superficial similarity with Surrealism and its associations. He followed a contrary path, and the objects in his work were never intended to serve as symbols of psychological processes. His focus was the representational and artistic value of the elements depicted; the value of each element accentuated by contrast. For Léger too, chance was allowed to play a role and the creative process to operate beneath the threshold of the consciousness, but chance and the subconscious existed only up to that moment in which conception began. Consequently, chance, game and the unconscious had to make way for the “rational legitimacy and the deliberate procedure”, here the clearly constructive intention took over. Yet Léger’’’’s works contain “emotional and imaginative components” which are deliberately subordinated to the key focus of the work - the artistic quality of that which is depicted. This appears to be the classic nature of Léger’’’’s artistic character, one which would intensify further over the following years. When drawing a comparison with Léger’’’’s works from the 1920s, we see how inorganic motifs - industrial products such as cutlery, umbrellas or mouth organs, give way to organic shapes and motifs. (B. Mraz: Fernand Léger, 1980) The present work shows contrasting, partly three dimensional, organic shapes (in blue, green, red, black and white) set against a yellow background. Léger breaks with the 1920s tradition of rectilinearity, allowing the objects to float freely within the yellow space. “Léger is content with the simple, straightforward sequencing of his image elements. Again, these objects are so selected that soft shapes are contrasted with hard, and flowing with static forms.” (Fernand Léger, Museum des 20. Jhdt., Vienna 1968)

Slavíček Antonín (Prague1870 - 1910 Prague) In fog, monogrammed lower left AS, undated (1904), oil on canvas, 54 x 68 cm, frame (Ní) Provenance: property of the artist Růžena Zátková Reproduced: Volné směry, Volume IX., 1905, p. 57 Jiránek M., Antonín Slavíček - anthology of his works, Prague 1910 Kovárna F., Antonín Slavíček, edition Výtvarné zjevy, S. V. U. Mánes, Prague 1930 Uher V., Antonín Slavíček v Kameničkách, Prague, 1948, p. 7 Antonín Slavíček - list of works, Prague 1965, pp. 264, cat. no. 16 (figure on page 267) Tomeš J., Antonín Slavíček, Prague 1966, cat. no. 190 Exhibited: XIV. Manes Exhibition in 1904, Prague 1904-1905, No. 37