Man’s Head, n. d.

Aside from over 900 oil paintings, the large oeuvre of Arnold Clementschitsch (1887–1970) also comprises a large number of graphic-art works previously not entered in a catalogue of works. This lithograph—a printing technique in which the subject is drawn with special crayons and or inks on a pre-prepared stone plate, which allows for planographic duplication—shows the head of a young man in three-quarter view. It is characterized by clear-cut outlines and light-dark modeling, with hatching differing in tone and density. In its style of execution, the portrait is an example of the artist’s experimentalism who sought to train himself in all sorts of art techniques. Whether the young man portrayed—the wing-top collar and the bow tie indicate an elegant clothing style—was a relative of the Austrian psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857–1940) is yet to be ascertained.

MS, 2021