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ONLINECOLLECTION

“The Sun Seekers”. Design for a stained glass window over the western gate of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, not executed, 1947

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Oil on canvas
78.2×96 cm

Artists

  • Anton Kolig

    (Nový Jičín 1886–1950 Nötsch in the Gailtal)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
Seven male figures are walking about at night with their lantern, seeking the sun. They are surprised to see it rise as a red ball of fire on the horizon. The vivid gestures and movements of the men depicted in the nude by Anton Kolig (1886–1950) express emotions that range from perplexity and simplicity to surprise and amazement. The painting displays one of many motifs that Kolig designed for a destroyed stained glass window over the western gate of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna from 1946. In addition to traditional religious themes such as the four evangelists, the pietà or scenes from the apocalypse, worldly allegories were considered as well. Here, however, Kolig invents a humorous anecdotal image to illustrate this symbolic representation of humans searching for the light of knowledge. Since the artist was working without an official commission, the designs were not accepted – even though the works were sent to the relevant authorities – and hence, Kolig’s manifold image ideas were not executed.

Object data

Artist/author
Title
“The Sun Seekers”. Design for a stained glass window over the western gate of St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, not executed
Date
1947
Art movement
Expressionism, Nötsch Circle
Category
Painting
Material​/technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
78.2×96 cm
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 193
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Anton Kolig, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Köln 2017 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 22.09.2017-08.01.2018).
  • Otmar Rychlik: Anton Kolig 1886-1950. Das malerische Werk, Wien 2001.
Catalogue raisonne
  • Rychlik 2001: 324
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Nachlass Anton Kolig, Nötsch (1950);
Katharina Kolig, Nötsch (1950-1971); (1)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (vor 1981-1994); (2)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994).

  1. Archiv des Leopold Museums, E-Mail von Cornelius Kolig an Dr. Franz Smola (LMPS) vom 27.02.2017
  2. Archiv des Leopold Museums, Schreiben der Kärntner Landesgalerie an Dr. Rudolf Leopold vom 04.03.1981

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