PROF. RUDOLF KOPPITZ (1884-1936)

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.