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ONLINECOLLECTION

The Arrival of the Plague Ship, 1919

Leopold Museum,
Vienna © Bildrecht,
Vienna 2025
Pencil on paper
27.5×23 cm

Artists

  • Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando

    (Vienna 1877–1954 Meran)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
The pencil drawing The Arrival of the Plague Ship shows a Gentleman wrinkling his nose, accompanied by a child, potentially a page, on a harbor promenade. The man is wearing a curly wig and an old fashioned, courtly suit, his gaze turning contemptuously away from an approaching ship. In this satirically tinged scene, there seems to be a reference to the courtly world, which has receded into an almost mystical distance and which is playing an ironic role in many of the author and artist Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando’s (1877-1954) drawings. The uncolored drawing thrives on soft strokes and a relaxed hand, while retaining the spontaneity of the idea. This immediacy is an essential feature of the artist, whose graphic works are often imbued with the old Austrian double-entendre humor of his literary works, such as * Gaulschreck im Rosennetz *.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando
Title
The Arrival of the Plague Ship
Date
1919
Art movement
Surrealism
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Pencil on paper
Dimensions
27.5×23 cm
Signature
Mon. u. dat. re. u.: FHO 1919
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 2039
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (o.D.);
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (seit 1994).

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2023/2024 Partial funding for digitization by the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport „Kulturerbe digital“ as part of NextGenerationEU.