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Diana and Actaeon, 1921

Leopold Museum,
Vienna © Henriette Gorton-Wickenburg
Oil on canvas
109×160 cm

Artists

  • Alfred Wickenburg

    (Gleichenberg 1885–1978 Graz)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
The story of Diana, goddess of the hunt, and the hunter Actaeon is found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses. When Actaeon haplessly barges into and watches Diana bathing with her nymphs, she punishes him by transforming him into a deer to be killed by his own hounds. The Styrian painter Alfred Wickenburg (1885–1978) did not aim for a readable representation of the ancient narrative but was interested in a stylistic reformulation. His composition was informed above all by his studies of Cubism. The result was a deconstruction of figure and landscape into a multitude of geometrical shapes. In conjunction with the slivered contours and transparent color layers, a mesh of shapes and hues was created that renders the mythological scene.

AK, 2021

Object data

Artist/author
  • Alfred Wickenburg
Title
Diana and Actaeon
Date
1921
Art movement
Classical Modernism
Category
Painting
Material​/technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
109×160 cm
Signature
Signed lower right: AW
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 5288
Inventory access
Accession 2003
Selection of Reference works
  • Lucia Beck u.a.: Alfred Wickenburg. Monografie und Werkverzeichnis, Klagenfurt 2018.
  • Fremde Götter. Faszination Afrika und Ozeanien, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Köln 2016 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 23.09.2016-09.01.2017).
  • Zwischen den Kriegen. Österreichische Künstler 1918–1938, hrsg. von Rudolf Leopold, Wien 2007 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 21.09.2007-28.01.2008).
Catalogue raisonne
  • Huemer/Husslein-Arco/Rollig 2018: GE 32
Keywords
woman/girlnudedancingornaments/jewelsthe (nude) human figure (fem.)

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Alfred Wickenburg, Graz;
Johannes Wickenburg, Wien (o.D.);
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (o.D.); (1)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (2003). (2)

  1. Archiv des Leopold Museums, Henriette Gorton-Wickenburg an Mag. Peter Weinhäupl vom 11.07.2003
  2. Archiv des Leopold Museums, Schätzgutachten vom 20.03.2003 und Kaufvertrag vom 01.09.2003

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Search in collection

woman/girlnudedancingornaments/jewelsthe (nude) human figure (fem.)