Josef Mario Korbel (1882-1954)

'Night', A Bronze Figure

Details

Josef Mario Korbel (1882-1954)
'Night', A Bronze Figure
inscribed 'MARIO KORBEL PRAGUE 1921 NO. 3 ©' and stamped 'FRAMTA ANNZ'
6¾in. (17.2cm.) high, including black Belgian marble base, greenish brown patina

Provenance

Private Collection, Middleburg, Virginia
Adams Davidson Galleries, Washington, DC

Literature

B. Proske, Brookgreen Gardens Sculpture, Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina, 1968 ed., p. 234
J. Conner and J. Rosenkranz, Rediscoveries in American Sculpture: Studio Works 1893-1939, Austin, Texas, 1989, pp. 98-99 illus.

Lot Essay

Korbel made three versions of Night, the first of which was conceived in 1920 as a polychrome stone figure. A second carving, a life-size marble, was commissioned by Nicholas F. Bradys for his Long Island estate, which the artist completed during his sojourn in Prague from 1921-1923. The last version, also a life-size marble, is dated 1933 and was given to Brookgreen Gardens in 1934 by Archer and Anna Hyatt Huntington.

Based on the date and the Czech inscription, the present bronze is a reduction of the second version. Another example is in the collection of the Chicago Art Institute.