Thaddäus and Tontschi (The Artist’s Two Eldest Children), 1917

In the midst of World War I, Anton Kolig (1886–1950) created this haunting double portrait of his two eldest children. The close-up portrait shows his son Thaddäus (1911–1975) and his Paris-born daughter Marie Antoinette (1912–1980), called Tontschi. The two children appear huddled together in front of a hazy background. Their dark bodies provide a contrast to their light faces, which seem severely marked. At the time the work was created, the two children were staying with their grandparents in Neutitschein (now Nový Jičín). The two siblings were experiencing an emotionally difficult period on account of the War and their separation from their mother. The seven-year-old boy’s gaze is rigid and slightly other-worldly, while the six-year-old girl is looking directly at her father with a serious expression. Amidst this desolate, gloomy atmosphere, a golden star on a red background is gleaming on the boy’s clothes, the military insignia acting as a symbol of the oppressive time of war.

AK, 2023