The Handicrafts Teacher, 1920

Her body twisted and slightly bent forwards, her arms and legs crossed, a young lady is sitting on a chair in the studio of the painter Anton Kolig (1886–1950). The model’s posture is unassuming, animated and active. The shadow on her face stands in contrast to the bright background of the floor and partly rendered furniture in the studio. The contre-jour situation creates a lively pictorial space which emphasizes the figure’s three-dimensional effect. We know nothing about the depicted’s identity. The painting’s title is a reference to a handicrafts school for girls Kolig founded in 1921 in the Gailtal in Nötsch, a short-lived initiative for upholding local artisan traditions, for which Kolig provided embroidery sketches, among other things. The girl in the rendering may be clutching a piece of white cloth, on which she might be working.

AK, 2023