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ONLINECOLLECTION

Giraffe Lady. Study for the public swimming pool Jörgerbad, 1912 - 1914

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Pencil, watercolor on paper
87.3×63.3 cm

Artists

  • Oskar Laske

    (Chernivtsi 1874–1951 Vienna)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
When the public swimming pool Kaiser-Franz-Joseph-Bad was built between 1912 and 1914 according to plans by the architect Friedrich Jäckel (1876–1960), the painter Oskar Laske (1874–1951) was commissioned to decorate the entrance hall with paintings on the theme of Noah’s Ark. The watercolored drawing is an original-size draft for the entrance hall’s left pillar. Laske created a humorous depiction of a seated Giraffe Lady. Boasting breasts and wearing a necklace, the lady is pulling down a piece of cloth over her long giraffe’s leg. Following World War I, the building was renamed Jörgerbad, reflecting the name of the street it is situated on. Thus, the artist’s handwritten note on the work on paper must have been added later. During the course of structural and technical renovations carried out between 1968 and 1978, Laske’s frescos, including the paintings on the pillars, were partly destroyed.

Object data

Artist/author
Title
Giraffe Lady. Study for the public swimming pool Jörgerbad
Date
1912 - 1914
Art movement
Expressionism, Hagenbund
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Pencil, watercolor on paper
Dimensions
87.3×63.3 cm
Signature
Signed lower right with pencil: O. Laske O. Laske; designated upper left with gouache: Jörger-BAD linker Pfeiler
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 2417
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Linie und Form. 100 Meisterzeichnungen aus der Sammlung Leopold, hrsg. von Franz Smola/Fritz Koreny, Wien 2014 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 23.05.2014–20.10.2014).
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

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