Lot 3457* - A207 PostWar & Contemporary - Thursday, 30. November 2023, 02.00 PM
HANS JOSEPHSOHN
(Kaliningrad 1920–2012 Zurich)
Untitled. 1972.
English Cement. Cast 2.
Height 43 cm. Base 34.5 × 22 × 7 cm.
We thank Ulrich Meinherz, Kesselhaus Josephsohn, St. Gallen, for his kind assistance. This work is recorded there under the number: 6002.
Provenance:
- Artist's studio.
- Purchased directly from the artist in the 1980s, collection Uchtenhagen.
- Biblion Antiquariat, Zurich.
- Purchased from the above by the present owner in 2020, since then property Switzerland.
Hans Josephsohn is one of the most well-known contemporary Swiss sculptors.
Sculptures in plaster occupy an important place in Josephsohn’s oeuvre. On the one hand they serve as models for his bronze sculptures, which are cast using the lost wax technique. On the other hand, the soft and quick-drying plaster offers the sculptor the possibility of a very direct manipulation of the material using his hands and the palette knife. This very raw and intense treatment of the plaster also determines the surface of the sculpture offered here at auction. At first glance it is not obvious whether the lower part of the work belongs to the body or whether it is a half-figure. The almost violent treatment is characteristic, oppressive and at the same time fascinating.
Josephsohn’s subject matter, in his large scale as well as his small format works, is without exception that of man. Affected by his past, he repeatedly poses the question of man’s existence and the conditions surrounding it. Even if he does not find a definitive answer to this question, he nevertheless always looks for it in man’s physical presence.
Provenance:
- Artist's studio.
- Purchased directly from the artist in the 1980s, collection Uchtenhagen.
- Biblion Antiquariat, Zurich.
- Purchased from the above by the present owner in 2020, since then property Switzerland.
Hans Josephsohn is one of the most well-known contemporary Swiss sculptors.
Sculptures in plaster occupy an important place in Josephsohn’s oeuvre. On the one hand they serve as models for his bronze sculptures, which are cast using the lost wax technique. On the other hand, the soft and quick-drying plaster offers the sculptor the possibility of a very direct manipulation of the material using his hands and the palette knife. This very raw and intense treatment of the plaster also determines the surface of the sculpture offered here at auction. At first glance it is not obvious whether the lower part of the work belongs to the body or whether it is a half-figure. The almost violent treatment is characteristic, oppressive and at the same time fascinating.
Josephsohn’s subject matter, in his large scale as well as his small format works, is without exception that of man. Affected by his past, he repeatedly poses the question of man’s existence and the conditions surrounding it. Even if he does not find a definitive answer to this question, he nevertheless always looks for it in man’s physical presence.
CHF 18 000 / 24 000 | (€ 18 560 / 24 740)
Sold for CHF 19 375 (including buyer’s premium)
All information is subject to change.