Study for St. Martin, 1918

Anton Faistauer (1887–1930), a co-founder of the progressive artists’ association Neukunstgruppe, had been found unfit for active service in World War I and was deployed at the Imperial and Royal Military Museum from 1917. There, he curated exhibitions of war pictures together with Egon Schiele (1890–1918). The painter was granted a leave of absence to work on a war-themed votive altar in Maishofen. The present work St. Martin (Study) was created in 1918 as part of his preparations for the altar. Faistauer depicted the religious scene, in which St. Martin wraps part of his cloak around the shoulders of an unclad beggar, with black contours and earthy colors. The finished version can be seen on the inside of the altar’s left panel. Religious motifs, such as the frescoes for the parish church in Morzg St. Margaret, form an integral part of Faistauer’s artistic oeuvre, along with still lifes, portraits and landscapes.

RR, 2023