Sale: 539 / Modern Art Day Sale, June 10. 2023 in Munich Lot 315


315
Egon Schiele
Männlicher Akt (Selbstbildnis), 1912.
Lithograph
Estimate:
€ 15,000 / $ 16,500
Sold:
€ 25,400 / $ 27,940

(incl. surcharge)
Männlicher Akt (Selbstbildnis). 1912.
Lithograph.
Kallir 1 b 2 (of 1 b 2). Söhn 355-12. Signed and dated. Inscribed by a hand other than that of the artist. Signed, dated and with the editions signet in the stone. From an edition of 200 copies on this type of paper. On smooth, slightly yellowish wove paper. 42 x 23.5 cm (16.5 x 9.2 in). Sheet 45 x 32 cm (17,6 x 12,5 in).
Released in the portfolio "SEMA. 15 Originalsteinzeichnungen", published by Delphin-Verlag, Munich 1912. [EH].

• From the acclaimed Serge Sabarsky Collection.
• "Männlicher Akt (Selbstbildnis) I" is the first lithograph that Egon Schiele ever made.
• Released in the "SEMA-Mappe" of the expressionistic artist group "SEMA" around Paul Klee.
• Egon Schiele's print œuvre merely comprises 17 works.
• Other copies of this sheet are at, among others, the Leopold Museum, Vienna and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
.

PROVENANCE: Serge Sabarsky Collection (1912-1996), New York.
Serge Sabarsky Estate, New York.
Vally Sabarsky Collection (1909-2002), New York.
Vally Sabarsky Foundation, New York.

LITERATURE: Otto Kallir, Egon Schiele. Das druckgraphische Werk, Wels 1970, pp. 84f., cat. no. 1 b 2.
Susanne M. I. Kaufmann, Die 'Künstlervereinigung Sema' - Eine Künstlergruppierung zwischen expressionistischer Kunstauffassung und den Mechanismen des Kunstmarktes, München 2008, pp. 67ff.

Egon Schiele created his first graphic work with amazing perfection. As a basis, he made a drawing which he transferred onto the stone in transfer printing. The depiction shows the boldly captured self-portrait nude . Egon Schiele submitted two works for the "SEMA portfolio" in 1912, of which our motif was ultimately chosen. It is important to note that Egon Schiele's print oeuvre comprises a total of only 17 works, of which our sheet is the first one made for publication.
The "SEMA portfolio" was published in 1912 parallel to the exhibition of the artist group "SEMA" at Galerie Thannhauser. In a letter to the publisher ‘Delphin-Verlag’, Egon Schiele expresses the wish that his contribution to the portfolio is merely titled "Zeichnung” (Drawing). The publisher replied: "[..] It seems to as impossible for us as it is for them [the gentlemen of SEMA] to simply call your sheet ‘drawing’, since every sheet could be called that. [..] We would therefore like to call your sheet at least 'Akt/' (Nude) and hope you agree to that." (quoted from: Susanne Kaufmann, Die Künstlervereinigung Sema, Master's thesis LMU 2008, p. 64). This shows how Egon Schiele saw this lithograph on a par with an original drawing due to its graphic origin.
It was not until 1918 that Schiele returned to lithography at the invitation of the Vienna Secession. Two more lithographs followed the same year.



315
Egon Schiele
Männlicher Akt (Selbstbildnis), 1912.
Lithograph
Estimate:
€ 15,000 / $ 16,500
Sold:
€ 25,400 / $ 27,940

(incl. surcharge)