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Helmet in the Sea, 1906

Leopold Museum,
Vienna © Bildrecht,
Vienna 2026
Gouache on paper
35.8×29.4 cm

Artists

  • Alfred Kubin

    (Litoměřice 1877–1959 Zwickledt)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
Alfred Kubin (1877–1959) titled this sheet Helm in the Sea. He designed a rounded brownish-white form animated by subtle color accents, including a blue eye and red-orange jagged claws. Veiled glimmers of light cause the helmet to glow like a sunken treasure in the water. This fantastical creature belongs to a group of gouache paintings that Kubin produced in the winter of 1906. In these compositions, he processed impressions from a trip to Paris a year earlier. Kubin visited his French colleague Odilon Redon (1840–1916) and encountered his series of dreamlike sea creatures and vividly colored fantasy landscapes. Using a microscope, Kubin began to examine structures invisible to the naked eye. Around 1906, his exploration of these microscopic realms gave rise to numerous animal fantasies marked by experimental approaches to form and color.

AK, 2025

Object data

Artist/author
  • Alfred Kubin
Title
Helmet in the Sea
Date
1906
Art movement
Symbolism
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Gouache on paper
Dimensions
35.8×29.4 cm
Signature
Embossing stamp lower right: aWk
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 886
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
military clothing and other equipment (uniforms/cap/helmet)sea

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Robert R. Schmidt, Lugano (o.D.);
Auktion: 1964, Kornfeld & Klipstein, Auktion Nr. 112, Kat. Nr. 685;
Dr. Walter Kropatschek, Helgoland (1961-1979); (1)
Auktion: 21.06.1979, Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Auktion 169, Moderne Kunst des neunzehnten und zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts, Los Nr. 657
Galerie Ketterer, München (1979); (2)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (o.D.);
Leopold Museum Privatstiftung, Wien (seit 1994).

  1. Kulturhistorisches Museum Bielefeld, Katalog zu “Alfred Kubin zum 100. Geburtstag”, Bielefeld 1977, S. 23, Nr. 5 „Meeresgebilde“ (Abb. S. 39); E-mail Dr. Jochen Rath an Dr. Alfred Fehringer (LMPS) vom 22.02.2022.
  2. Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, Katalog zur 169. Auktion, Los Nr. 657 (Abb. Tafel 53); Korrespondenz zwischen Dr. Patricia Spiegelfeld (LMPS) und Dr. Eberhard Kornfeld vom August 2002.

For provenance related information, please contact us.

Search in collection

military clothing and other equipment (uniforms/cap/helmet)sea

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