Beschaulichkeit. Um 1924.
Bronze with gold-brown patina.
Braun 121. On the sole of the left foot with the monogram in ligature and with the foundry mark "H. Noack Berlin" on the reverse. Height: 31.7 cm (12.4 in).
Hermann Braun was able to identify a date "before 1924" based on the fact that a nephew of Fritz Klimsch bought a copy of "Beschaulichkeit" in 1924 (cf. Hermann Braun, Fritz Klimsch. Eine Dokumentation, Cologne 1991, p. 359).
Cast by art foundry Hermann Noack, Berlin (with the foundry mark). Cast date unknown. [JS].
• Fritz Klimsch, along with Georg Kolbe, is among the most famous German sculptors of the first half of the 20th century.
• "Beschaulichkeit" is one of his most important bronzes.
• It was Klimsch's first take on an intertwined, inward motion motif, which he would revisit in later nudes.
• Both Klimsch's "Beschaulichkeit" and Kolbe's "Sitzende" (1928/29) personify an inward-contemplative expression.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Koch, Hanover.
Private collection Rhineland (acquired from the above in 1977).

LITERATURE: (Selection):
Hermann Braun, Fritz Klimsch. Werke, Hanover 1980, pp. 50f., no. 17, with illu. (different copy).
Die Bildhauer August Gaul und Fritz Klimsch, Frankfurt a. M. 2010, p. 250, cat. no. 128 (different copy).

"What is striking in Klimsch's work is that many his sculptures are varying takes of the same theme in ever new ways - for example the standing, reclining or sitting nude. Some of these works show completely different movements, sometimes just differing by slight nuances of movement that only become apparent on closer inspection. An example thereof are the sculptures "Am Strand" [..] and "Betrachtlichkeit" [..], the origins of which are also close to each other – one in 1926 and the other in 1924. [..] Despite the seemingly constructed and complex posture, both sculptures emanate great calm, seem introverted [..] The sculptures show how Klimsch examined an aspect of movement and how much he was interested in even the smallest changes in the depiction of the motif."
Sophia Dietrich, Der weibliche Akt und Variationen der Sitzenden, in: Die Bildhauer August Gaul und Fritz Klimsch, Frankfurt a. M. 2010, p. 245.

In good condition. With minimally rubbed spots, mainly on the back and to the left arm. With very few minimal patina irregularities.