Youth and Cupid, 1911

Anton Kolig’s (1886–1950) large-format painting Youth and Cupid is considered one of the milestones of his early work. His lifelong study of the human form, his fascination for nudes, and, above all, the male body, are initially evidenced in this monumental work. Increasingly turning away from the Symbolist influences of his student days in Vienna, the depiction of the boy shows first signs of the sculptural painting that essentially characterizes Kolig’s painting of the 1920s through 1940s. A timid sort of awkwardness shines through despite the already masculine hips, athletic legs, and oversized feet. The subject is on the threshold between puberty and adolescence. The year of the painting’s production was one of profound change for Kolig, for in 1911 he and Katharina Wiegele married and shortly after he became a father. He then subsequently joined forces with Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980), Sebastian Isepp (1884–1954), Franz Wiegele (1887–1944), and other members of the Neukunstgruppe, taking part in the legendary Special Exhibition for Painting and Sculpture on the premises of the artists’ association Hagenbund.

Text Leopold Museum