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Gustav Gurschner “Personification of the Wind” Pair of Candlesticks
Celebrated by contemporaries for his “ingenious combination of purpose and beauty”, Gustav Gurschner’s “The Wind” unites utility and craftsmanship to create this mesmerizing pair of bronze candlesticks. The figural pair are suspended in mid-air, swathed in a sheer fabric seemingly whipped around by the force of a heavy gale. The nude and barefoot forms mold their bodies into the invisible wind, balancing delicately on pooling fabric below their feet. The sheerness of the fabric is masterfully executed through delicate chasing, enabling the wind-swept pair to appear almost life-like under the flickering light of a candle.
- Product Details
- Curator's Notes
Item #: S-20960
Artist: Gustav Gurschner
Country: Austria
Circa: 1900s
Dimensions: 10" high, 5" diameter
Materials: Patinated Bronze
Signed: “Gurschner 1901 Austria” , “Berndorf” with a Foundry Mark. Also stamped “87Ga KKKE Wien”. The other is marked “Gurschner 12 .1900 Depose KKKE Wien” and stamped “87b”
Literature: Dynamic Beauty: Sculpture of Art Nouveau Paris, by Macklowe Gallery Press, page 145.
Born in the Bavarian mountains, Gustav Gurschner received his first artistic education at the Bozen school of wood-carving, producing hundreds of clock-cases, chairs, and oak-chests. He acquired his modeling technique under the tutelage of architect and sculptor Ville Valgreen in Paris. As a result of these two methods of training, Gurschner believed that beauty must be “developed out of a serviceable form” and this is clearly reflected in his bronze sculpture work.