PROF. RUDOLF KOPPITZ (1884-1936)

Im Schoße der Natur

Details

PROF. RUDOLF KOPPITZ (1884-1936)
Im Schoße der Natur
Carbon print. 1923/Circa 1930. Embossed credit stamp on the recto; Wien, V Zeinlhofeg 8 studio and reproduction limitation stamps on the verso; signed in pencil on the original overmat; titled and annotated Carbon Drück and 115 No 1 in pencil in German with 1932 Das Alpine Lichtbild exhibition label affixed to the inside of the original overmat.
15 1/8 x 11 1/8in. (38.4 x 28.2cm.) Framed.

Provenance

From the artist;
by descent to his family;
with Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York;
to the present owner.

Literature

See: Verlag Christian Brandstatter, Rudolf Koppitz 1884-1936, pp. 55, 71 and back cover.

Lot Essay

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 similar works by Wilhelm Von Gloden and F. Holland Day but although the pose echoes the symbolic and allegorical iconography of related paintings, sculptures and photographs, Koppitz himself "becomes absorbed by 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. (Verlag Christian Brandstatter, 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 overmatted by the artist for an exhibition in Vienna in 1932.

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