Michael Powolny - VENUS

Date	1916
Period	20th century
Origin	Austrian
Medium	Ceramic, Clay
Dimensions	119 cm (46⁷/₈ inches)
Gallery	Bel Etage, Wolfgang Bauer, Vienna

Description
Technical

Designed by: Michael Powolny, 1916, WV 239
Executed by: Vereinigte Wiener und Gmundner Keramik
Unmarked

Red clay, ivory colour glaze, a sizeable firing crack on her right leg and a smaller one on the drapery, chips on the base near her feet, glaze imperfections (minor blue spots), good overall condition

H 119 cm

In his catalogue raisonné Frottier describes Venus as follows: "WV 239. Baukeramik, stehender weiblicher Akt, E. u. A. Powolny, D. 1916, H 120 cm, Aufnahme aus DK, JG 20 (1916), S. 135“
(WV 239. structural ceramics, standing female nude, E. u. A. Powolny, D. 1916, height 120 cm, photograph from DK, JG 20 (1916), p. 135)

I am only aware of one other such Venus that has been executed. That version is, however, made of red ceramics and unglazed. It was
marked MP and WK.

Date: 1916
Period: 20th century
Origin: Austrian
Medium: Ceramic, Clay
Signature:

Unmarked

Dimensions: 119 cm (46⁷/₈ inches)
Provenance: H.M. Luther Antiques, New York, USA

Literature:

Ref.: E. Frottier, Michael Powolny, Keramik und Glas aus Wien 1900–1950, cat. raisonné 198 (Neptune), WV 239 (Venus), ill. 54, 55; T. Zickler (ed.), Brüder Schwadron. Neue Orte & Spuren, Vienna 2014, p. 19–23

Photo credit: Stair Galleries & Restoration, Inc.

Categories: Sculpture