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Lot Essay
One of the most important of Franz von Stuck's paintings, Hercules and the Hydra bears all the hallmarks for which the artist is most famed: it combines a mythological motif, a powerful, sculptural human form, with a profoundly decorative quality. It is also one of the few works by the artist to have explicitly political overtones.
The genesis of this painting is linked directly to one of von Stuck's most famous sculptures, Feinde Ringsum (Enemies all around, fig. 1), the title of which refers to a motto introduced by the Kaiser, Wilhelm II, at the beginning of the First World War. As Edwin Becker explains 'It was intended as a direct appeal for Germany to be defended tooth and nail against the surrounding countries and was adopted in all sectors of society...later, when it became clear that Germany was going to lose the war, it was renamed 'Siegrfried' [a name which has not stuck]. Like the athletic Hercules, the Wagnerian Siegfried of the Nibelungen saga symbolised courage and strength.' (exh. cat., Amsterdam, 1995-1996, p. 87).
In addition to its specific political message, Hercules and the Hydra fits into a wider European artistic context, notably a monumental movement which glorified concepts such as perseverance, courage and strength. Von Stuck typically found these themes in Greek mythology, an iconography he turned to not so much as part of a national call to reclaim a lost Arcadia, but generally to convey in a modern idiom the same universal themes they originally aimed to express. Asked by a journalist which area of work intrigued him most, Stuck replied: 'My aim is to glorify male strength and female softness. Even in my religious pictures I try to bring out the universal human element.'
The appeal of this extraordinary painting to modern sensibilities lies primarily in its aesthetic qualities. Von Stuck was an artist who blended his knowledge of sculpture, furniture design, the applied arts and painting to create objects that were profoundly decorative and heavily stylized. Here the drama of the subject is balanced by a decorative effect achieved through the artist's use of striking, almost artificial, blues and greens, and by a choice of frame which, as in most of von Stuck's paintings, is integral to the entire work. The voluted frame balances and softens the rigid pose of Hercules, and echoes the sinuous and stylized form of the serpents. Hercules mimics the pose of the warrior in the sculpture, which was itself derived from numerous charcoal Academic drawings made by the artist in preparation for his project (fig.2).
These decorative elements, combined with a closely cropped composition and a background simplified into three distinct areas of colour, result in a powerful image which pushes man and beast into the foreground; the viewer is confronted with an instantly recognizable yet powerfully symbolic image which has as much resonance today as it did for the audience for whom it was originally intended.
The genesis of this painting is linked directly to one of von Stuck's most famous sculptures, Feinde Ringsum (Enemies all around, fig. 1), the title of which refers to a motto introduced by the Kaiser, Wilhelm II, at the beginning of the First World War. As Edwin Becker explains 'It was intended as a direct appeal for Germany to be defended tooth and nail against the surrounding countries and was adopted in all sectors of society...later, when it became clear that Germany was going to lose the war, it was renamed 'Siegrfried' [a name which has not stuck]. Like the athletic Hercules, the Wagnerian Siegfried of the Nibelungen saga symbolised courage and strength.' (exh. cat., Amsterdam, 1995-1996, p. 87).
In addition to its specific political message, Hercules and the Hydra fits into a wider European artistic context, notably a monumental movement which glorified concepts such as perseverance, courage and strength. Von Stuck typically found these themes in Greek mythology, an iconography he turned to not so much as part of a national call to reclaim a lost Arcadia, but generally to convey in a modern idiom the same universal themes they originally aimed to express. Asked by a journalist which area of work intrigued him most, Stuck replied: 'My aim is to glorify male strength and female softness. Even in my religious pictures I try to bring out the universal human element.'
The appeal of this extraordinary painting to modern sensibilities lies primarily in its aesthetic qualities. Von Stuck was an artist who blended his knowledge of sculpture, furniture design, the applied arts and painting to create objects that were profoundly decorative and heavily stylized. Here the drama of the subject is balanced by a decorative effect achieved through the artist's use of striking, almost artificial, blues and greens, and by a choice of frame which, as in most of von Stuck's paintings, is integral to the entire work. The voluted frame balances and softens the rigid pose of Hercules, and echoes the sinuous and stylized form of the serpents. Hercules mimics the pose of the warrior in the sculpture, which was itself derived from numerous charcoal Academic drawings made by the artist in preparation for his project (fig.2).
These decorative elements, combined with a closely cropped composition and a background simplified into three distinct areas of colour, result in a powerful image which pushes man and beast into the foreground; the viewer is confronted with an instantly recognizable yet powerfully symbolic image which has as much resonance today as it did for the audience for whom it was originally intended.