Portrait of Otto Mauer, c. 1947

The progressive priest Otto Mauer (1907–1973), banned from preaching under the Nazi regime, was widely seen as an important patron of avant-garde art mostly in the postwar period. He always sought to establish a relationship between the Catholic church and contemporary art because he saw in it the potential of living one’s faith in a way in keeping with the times. Here, in the Portrait of Otto Mauer of 1947, he looks, eyes half closed and brow furrowed, from the dark of the room toward some light source, his right arm thrown over and the left hand gripping the back of the chair he sits in. While the face is precisely detailed, the clothes, suggested rather than detailed, dissolve into the dark background with the canvas shining through in parts. The dynamic, coloration, and expression show parallels to Oskar Kokoschka’s (1886–1980) Self-Portrait, One Hand Touching the Face.

RR, 2021