Im Schosse der Natur

Rudolf Koppitz's self-portrait Im Schoße der Natur or "In the Bosom of Nature" is a significant image in the the history of the male nude and self-portraiture. Peter Weiermair relates this image to simular works by Wilhelm Von Gloden and F. Holland Day but although the pose echos the symbolic and allegorical iconography of related paintings, sculptures and photographs, Koppitz himself "becomes absorbed by nature. He is protected rather than vulnerable, and we see here a completely different relationship to nature..." Koppitz becomes an archetype for man's interlocking relationship between himself and nature, turning away from civilization and escaping to explore his own experiences and emotions. His body language evokes his fascination with dance, gymnastics and the liberation of the human body and subsequentially the mind. (Peter Weiermair "Der Alpenwanderer" Rudolf Koppitz: 1884-1936, pp. 46-55)

Another print of this image was featured in the 1927 Pittsburgh Salon of Photographic Art, one of the most highly regarded annual photographic exhibitions in the United States. The print offered here was in Koppitz's personal collection and hung in his studio until his death in 1936.