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”Undersea Animals”, 1905

Leopold Museum,
Vienna © Bildrecht,
Vienna 2026
Watercolor, distemper on paper
25.2×36.3 cm

Artists

  • Alfred Kubin

    (Litoměřice 1877–1959 Zwickledt)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
Fish of varying sizes drift through a dark, underwater world. The shoal moves toward a mushroom-like plant that rises phallically into the space. Compared to the early work of illustrator and graphic artist Alfred Kubin (1877–1959), motifs and technique appear to have undergone a change. After his productive years in Munich, Kubin experienced a prolonged creative crisis. In spring 1905, he traveled to Vienna, where he met artists from the Vienna Secession and received new artistic impulses, particularly from Koloman Moser (1868–1918). Kubin learned the technique of paste painting from him, in which paste is mixed with watercolor. The new fantastical creatures inhabiting watery, dim worlds appear bizarre and challenged contemporary viewing conventions. As a result, Kubin’s transformation in subject matter and style was initially met with caution by his audience.

AK, 2025

Object data

Artist/author
  • Alfred Kubin
Title
”Undersea Animals”
Date
1905
Art movement
Symbolism
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Watercolor, distemper on paper
Dimensions
25.2×36.3 cm
Signature
Signed lower left: AKubin; embossing stamp lower right: aWk
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 885
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Alfred Kubin. Bekenntnisse einer gequälten Seele, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger, Köln 2022 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 16.04.2022–24.07.2022).
  • Alfred Kubin. Aus meinem Reich. Meisterblätter aus dem Leopold Museum, hrsg. von Rudolf Leopold/Romana Schuler, Wien 2002 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 05.10.2002-06.01.2003).
Keywords
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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Marianne Haeutler, Wien (1937); (1)
Auktion: 24.-25.05.1961, Karl & Faber, München, 77. Auktion, Kunst vom Mittelalter bis zur Moderne
Dr. Walter Kropatschek, Helgoland (1961-1979); (2)
Auktion: 21.06.1979, Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Auktion 169, Moderne Kunst des neunzehnten und zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, Los Nr. 656
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (1979-1994); (3)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (seit 1994).

  1. Albertina Kulturbund, Katalog zu „Alfred Kubin. Handzeichnungen, Aquarelle und druckgrafische Arbeiten", Wien 1937, Nr. 48 „Unterseetiere“.
  2. Kulturhistorisches Museum Bielefeld, Katalog zu “Alfred Kubin zum 100. Geburtstag”, Bielefeld 1977, S. 23, Nr. 4 „Unterseetiere“ (Abb. S. 38); E-mail Dr. Jochen Rath an Dr. Alfred Fehringer (LMPS) vom 22.02.2022.
  3. Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Katalog zur 169. Auktion, Los Nr. 656 (Abb. Tafel 54); Rechnung Galerie Kornfeld vom 20.06.1979; Korrespondenz zwischen Dr. Patricia Spiegelfeld (LMPS) und Dr. Eberhard Kornfeld vom August 2002

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2023/2024 Partial funding for digitization by the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport „Kulturerbe digital“ as part of NextGenerationEU.