5060
Rudolf Hausner*
(Wien 1914 - 1995 Wien)
„"Adam und sein Maschinist"“
1963
tempera and resin oil on copper; framed
39.5 x 39.5 cm (cut-out);
55 x 55 cm (with frame)
signed and dated twice on the upper left: R. Hausner 1963
label by the Künstlerhaus Wien on the reverse: 1968/657;
exhibition label on the reverse: Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus, Tokyo/Kobe/Nagoya 1972;
exhibition label on the reverse: Musée de Tel Aviv, Israel, Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, no. 47;
label on the reverse: Gallery Dieter Brusberg, Hannover
Provenance
Private collection, Austria
Exhibition
1969 Tel Aviv, Musee de Tel Aviv, Israel, Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, no. 47;
1972 Tokyo/Kobe/Nagoya, Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus, no. 8;
1995 Vienna, Adam und Anima. Rudolf Hausner. 80 Jahre, Sonderausstellung des Historischen Museums der Stadt Wien, no. 22
Literature
Musee de Tel Aviv, Israel, Vienna School of Fantastic Realism, Israel 1969, cat.-no. 47;
Museum für Moderne Kunst, Hyogo (Hg.), Wiener Schule des Phantastischen Realismus, Tokio/Kobe/Nagoya 1972, cat.-no. 8;
Rudolf Hausner, Werkmonographie, Edition Volker Huber, Offenbach am Main 1985, p. 259;
Walter Schurian, Edition Volker Huber, Hausner. Neue Bilder, 1982-1994, Offenbach am Main 1994, p. 90 and p. 262, cat.-no. 39;
exhibition catalogue, Adam und Anima. Rudolf Hausner. 80 Jahre, 196. Sonderausstellung des Historischen Museums der Stadt Wien, Vienna 1995, p. 82, ill. 22.
Rudolf Hausner, Ich bin es. Sammlung Würth und Leihgaben, Künzelsau-Gaisbach 2015, ill. p. 35
Estimate: € 35.000 - 70.000
Hammer price: € 40.000
Auction is closed.
Following the first work, “Der Maschinist und seine Frau” (“The ship’s engineer and his wife”) (1948), Adam underwent a veritable metamorphosis. In “Adam und sein Maschinist” (“Adam and his engineer”) (1963), Hausner sent his protagonists on an uncertain journey on the high seas. Doubly portrayed with sailor’s cap, moustache and naked torso, Adam gives the viewer a penetrating look. His questioning gaze does not bode well – one senses a latent threat. Out of the symbiosis of the two existences, the dream steamer is moving over the ocean in a leftward direction. It is propelled by the red paddle wheel, which, seen from the inside, represents an impeller. Its colour contrasts with the green and yellow double portrait of Adam occupying the centre of the picture. It is bordered by the trapezoidal park with its meticulously straight row of trees and by two chimneys blowing black smoke into the sky. The background consists of a fictitious-looking colour gradient of yellow, green and blue. Hausner’s surreal motif revolves around basic existential thoughts – the conscious and the subconscious intermingle, space and time are suspended, perspectives and perceptions are shifted.
This painting, executed in tempera and resin oil, is documented in the catalogues raisonnés drawn up by Dolf Lindner in 1982 and Hans Holländer in 1985 under catalogue number 39 (Dolf Lindner (ed.): Rudolf Hausner Werkverzeichnis, Dortmund 1982, p. 165; Hans Holländer: Rudolf Hausner. Werkmonographie, Offenbach am Main 1985, pp. 85, 259, WV no. 39). The labels on the back show that the work was included in international exhibitions at the Tel Aviv Museum (1969) and a travelling exhibition in Tokyo, Kōbe and Nagoya (1972).
(Stefan Üner)