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Lot Essay
Christoph Voll was born in Munich in 1897, the son of sculptor Roman Voll and painter Augusta Felicitas. After a stern childhood Voll moved to Dresden and began his training as a sculptor under the guidance of Albert Starke. After World War I the artist enrolled in the Kunstgewerbeschule and joined the Dresdner Sezesionsgruppe in 1919, of which Otto Dix, Conrad Felixmueller and Otto Schubert were part.
During the late 1920's Voll began dedicating himself to the female form, particularly enjoying the complexities of the figure in movement, which he expressed in his masterpieces like Eva/Erwachen (1928-33) and Sitzender Akt mit Zopf (1938). The present lot is a study for the large red granite Eva/Erwachen. A strong Eva is awaking here, seemingly breaking free from the material that holds her from below. Voll has woken the figure from the stone, thus incorporating the working process in the subject.
From 1937 the tides turned against Voll, his work was branded degenerate and many of his sculptures were destroyed by the Nazis. During the 1950's his wife Erna succeeded in getting work back to Karlsruhe, where the director of the Kunsthalle set to restore Voll's reputation. Between 1960 and 1964 a memorial exhibition toured through Germany.
During the late 1920's Voll began dedicating himself to the female form, particularly enjoying the complexities of the figure in movement, which he expressed in his masterpieces like Eva/Erwachen (1928-33) and Sitzender Akt mit Zopf (1938). The present lot is a study for the large red granite Eva/Erwachen. A strong Eva is awaking here, seemingly breaking free from the material that holds her from below. Voll has woken the figure from the stone, thus incorporating the working process in the subject.
From 1937 the tides turned against Voll, his work was branded degenerate and many of his sculptures were destroyed by the Nazis. During the 1950's his wife Erna succeeded in getting work back to Karlsruhe, where the director of the Kunsthalle set to restore Voll's reputation. Between 1960 and 1964 a memorial exhibition toured through Germany.