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The lost Son / Three figures with Wolves / The Path to the Grave. Study for the series of lithographs The Bound Columbus, 1913

Leopold Museum,
Vienna © Fondation Oskar Kokoschka/Bildrecht,
Vienna 2022
Black chalk on transparent paper
26×28.8 cm

Artists

  • Oskar Kokoschka

    (Pöchlarn 1886–1980 Montreux)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
Originally intended as a sequel to his 1908 youth fairytale The Dreaming Boys, Oskar Kokoschka’s (1886–1980) series of lithographs The Bound Columbus evolved into an autonomous work. First published with the title The White Animal Killer in the magazine Die Fackel, Kokoschka offered the revised and renamed version to the Berlin publisher Fritz Gurlitt (1854–1893). Along with O Eternity, Thou Word of Thunder and The Great Wall of China, this cycle of graphic works, too, is an expression of Kokoschka’s obsession with and love for Alma Mahler (1879–1964). Created in 1913, the twelve lithographs show the artist as Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), who follows the path of his lover – bearing the traits of Mahler – towards his own demise. Kokoschka revisited the theme of the seething conflict between the sexes, which he had previously addressed in his play Murderer, the Hope of Women, and incorporated personal memories of his relationship with Mahler into the composition. The illustrations have nothing to do with the historical figure of Christopher Columbus, rather, the title is an allusion to the film The Arrival of Columbus, which Mahler and Kokoschka had watched together in the summer of 1912.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Oskar Kokoschka
Title
The lost Son / Three figures with Wolves / The Path to the Grave. Study for the series of lithographs The Bound Columbus
Date
1913
Art movement
Expressionism
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Black chalk on transparent paper
Dimensions
26×28.8 cm
Signature
Designated and dates lower left: 1913 Der verlorene Sohn 1913; Monogrammed lower right: OK
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 7152
Inventory access
Accession 2022
Selection of Reference works
  • Oskar Kokoschka. Expressionist, Migrant, Europäer, hrsg. von Cathérine Hug/Heike Eipeldauer, Heidelberg 2018 (Ausst.-Kat. Kunsthaus Zürich, 14.12.2018–10.03.2019; Leopold Museum, Wien, 06.04.2019–08.07.2019).
  • Kokoschka. Das Ich im Brennpunkt, hrsg. von Tobias G. Natter/Franz Smola, Wien 2013 (Ausst. Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 04.10.2013–27.01.2014).
  • Alfred Weidinger/Alice Strobl: Oskar Kokoschka. Die Zeichnungen und Aquarelle 1897–1916, Salzburg 2008.
  • Die nackte Wahrheit. Klimt, Schiele, Kokoschka und andere Skandale, hrsg. von Tobias G. Natter/Max Hollein, München 2005 (Ausst.-Kat. Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt, 28.01.2005-24.01.2005; Leopold Museum, Wien, 31.05.2005-22.08.2005).
Catalogue raisonne
  • Weidnger/Strobl 2008: 532
Keywords
man/boyChristoph KolumbusAlma Mahlerconflictrelations between the sexesrough-and-tumble/fightingwolfviolence

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Sammlung Dr. A. W. von Dietel, Berlin;
Auktion:18.10.1928, Prestel, Frankfurt, Auktion Nr. 95, Los Nr. 1087
Städtische Kunsthalle, Mannheim (1928-1937)

im Zuge der Aktion “Entartete Kunst” 1937 an die Reichskammer der bildenden Künste abgeliefert;

Wolfgang Gurlitt, München;
Maria Gurlitt;
Galerie Ruberl, Wien (2010);
österreichischer Privatbesitz; (1)
Auktion: 30.06.2022, Im Kinsky Wien, Klassische Moderne, Los Nr. 2025
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (seit 2022). (2)

  1. Auktionshaus im Kinsky GmbH, Katalog zur Auktion vom 30.06.2022, Wien 2022
  2. Rechnung Nr. 1390398 vom 04.07.2022

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Search in collection

man/boyChristoph KolumbusAlma Mahlerconflictrelations between the sexesrough-and-tumble/fightingwolfviolence