Male Head Hanns Bolz

• A ‘late’ work by the artist Hanns Bolz, who died young • After the war, he began creating sculptures and experimenting with new materials • A return to the ‘primitive’ forms of archaic art In the final years of his short life, Hanns Bolz devoted himself to sculpture. Whilst he had initially devoted himself to caricature drawing and later to oil paintings in Düsseldorf, Paris and Munich, his focus now shifted to three-dimensional works. The reason for this must remain a mystery: as a soldier during the war, Bolz was exposed to poison gas and suffered partial blindness. It is therefore possible that his turn towards sculpture can be explained by this loss of sight. His sense of sight shifted to his sense of touch. It seems more likely, however, that – like other artists of his time – he undertook a return to art without authorship in the wake of the catastrophe of the war. His 1916 plaster ‘Male Head’ is a massive presence. It is not a portrait head, but a primal figure. With its face formalised in a schematic manner, the head almost resembles a prehistoric excavation. Nevertheless, the influences of Modernism are unmistakable, as similar stylistic approaches are also evident in the work of other artists of his time. The turn towards ‘primitive’ art, towards archaeological finds – indeed, towards art without an artist – as well as the reduction to the essential, can also be found in the works of Modigliani or Brancusi. Here, Bolz demonstrates his ability to identify new artistic impulses and explore new approaches to materials. | 1885 Aachen – München 1918 | Moderne Kunst | Skulptur/Objekt/Multiple | Nummer: 26x2542 | Provenance: Ludwig Egidius Ronig, Köln-Rath/Heumar, auf der Innenseite mit dem Monogramm; Frau Ronig, Refrath 1975; Josef Pock, Köln 1985; Privatsammlung, Rheinland; Ketterer, München 10.12.2011, Los 34; Privatsammlung, Europa; Sammlung, Rheinland, seit 2021.

Schätzpreis:20.000€

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