Sale: 611 / Day Sale, Dec. 05. 2026 in Munich → Lot 124000587
124000587
Gerhard Marcks
Orion, 1948.
Bronze with dark brown patina
Estimate:
€ 20,000 - 30,000
$ 23,200 - 34,800
Information on buyer's premium, taxation and resale right compensation will be available four weeks before the auction.
124000587
Gerhard Marcks
Orion, 1948.
Bronze with dark brown patina
Estimate:
€ 20,000 - 30,000
$ 23,200 - 34,800
Information on buyer's premium, taxation and resale right compensation will be available four weeks before the auction.
Gerhard Marcks
1889 - 1981
Orion. 1948.
Bronze with dark brown patina.
Bearing the artist’s signature on the plinth. One of 8 known copies. 86.7 x 24 x 21 cm (34.1 x 9.4 x 8.2 in).
Cast by Kirchner Foundry, Munich.
In Greek mythology, the hunter Orion was blinded by Oinopion after he had courted Oinopion’s daughter, Merope.
Additional sculptures from this South German private collection will be offered in our online sale from January 15 through February 15, 2027. [AR].
• One of only eight known copies.
• Masterful simplification of gesture and form: the characteristic, elongated figure of a youth by Gerhard Marcks.
• Copies of this bronze were exhibited, among other venues, at the 26th Venice Biennale in 1952 and at documenta 1 in Kassel in 1955, as well as in numerous international solo and group exhibitions.
• In family ownership for 70 years.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, Southern Germany (since 1956, Galerie Günther Franke, Munich).
EXHIBITION: Selection (presumably different examples in each case):
Gerhard Marcks—zu Ehren des Sechzigjährigen, Galerie Günther Franke, Munich, 1949, cat. no. 10.
Gerhard Marcks, Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, 1951, cat. no. 30.
26th Venice Biennale, 1952, cat. no. 124.
Gerhard Marcks, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1953, cat. no. 40.
Gerhard Marcks, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, 1954, unlisted.
Deutsche Kunst nach 1945, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1954, cat. no. 138.
documenta 1, Kassel, 1955, cat. no. 386.
Gerhard Marcks, Galerie Günther Franke, Munich, 1956, cat. no. 20 (presumably the copy offered here).
Gerhard Marcks. Skulpturen. Handzeichnungen. Druckgraphik, Nationalgalerie zu Berlin, Berlin (East), 1958, p. 8, cat. no. 43.
Arte alemã desde 1945, Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, 1960, cat. no. 251.
Gerhard Marcks. Plastiken. Zeichnungen. Graphik, Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, Sept. 23–Oct. 23, 1971, cat. no. 11.
LITERATURE: Günter Busch, Martina Rudloff, Gerhard Marcks. Das plastische Werk, Berlin 1977, CR no. 528 (with b&w ill. on p. 349, likely a different copy).
- -
Selected references (likely different copies in each case):
Günter Busch, Gerhard Marcks—Bildwerke in Bronze 1946–1950, Hamburg 1951, p. 15.
Ulrich Gertz, Plastik der Gegenwart, Berlin 1953 (with illustration on p. 104).
Alfred Werner, Gerhard Marcks - The Form of Nature, in: American Artist, Dec. 1971, vol. 35, p. 37 (with illustration).
1889 - 1981
Orion. 1948.
Bronze with dark brown patina.
Bearing the artist’s signature on the plinth. One of 8 known copies. 86.7 x 24 x 21 cm (34.1 x 9.4 x 8.2 in).
Cast by Kirchner Foundry, Munich.
In Greek mythology, the hunter Orion was blinded by Oinopion after he had courted Oinopion’s daughter, Merope.
Additional sculptures from this South German private collection will be offered in our online sale from January 15 through February 15, 2027. [AR].
• One of only eight known copies.
• Masterful simplification of gesture and form: the characteristic, elongated figure of a youth by Gerhard Marcks.
• Copies of this bronze were exhibited, among other venues, at the 26th Venice Biennale in 1952 and at documenta 1 in Kassel in 1955, as well as in numerous international solo and group exhibitions.
• In family ownership for 70 years.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, Southern Germany (since 1956, Galerie Günther Franke, Munich).
EXHIBITION: Selection (presumably different examples in each case):
Gerhard Marcks—zu Ehren des Sechzigjährigen, Galerie Günther Franke, Munich, 1949, cat. no. 10.
Gerhard Marcks, Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, 1951, cat. no. 30.
26th Venice Biennale, 1952, cat. no. 124.
Gerhard Marcks, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1953, cat. no. 40.
Gerhard Marcks, Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf, 1954, unlisted.
Deutsche Kunst nach 1945, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, 1954, cat. no. 138.
documenta 1, Kassel, 1955, cat. no. 386.
Gerhard Marcks, Galerie Günther Franke, Munich, 1956, cat. no. 20 (presumably the copy offered here).
Gerhard Marcks. Skulpturen. Handzeichnungen. Druckgraphik, Nationalgalerie zu Berlin, Berlin (East), 1958, p. 8, cat. no. 43.
Arte alemã desde 1945, Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro, 1960, cat. no. 251.
Gerhard Marcks. Plastiken. Zeichnungen. Graphik, Galerie Wolfgang Ketterer, Munich, Sept. 23–Oct. 23, 1971, cat. no. 11.
LITERATURE: Günter Busch, Martina Rudloff, Gerhard Marcks. Das plastische Werk, Berlin 1977, CR no. 528 (with b&w ill. on p. 349, likely a different copy).
- -
Selected references (likely different copies in each case):
Günter Busch, Gerhard Marcks—Bildwerke in Bronze 1946–1950, Hamburg 1951, p. 15.
Ulrich Gertz, Plastik der Gegenwart, Berlin 1953 (with illustration on p. 104).
Alfred Werner, Gerhard Marcks - The Form of Nature, in: American Artist, Dec. 1971, vol. 35, p. 37 (with illustration).
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