DOI Heft:
No. 379 (October 1924)
DOI Artikel:Hoytema, Mary van: Albin Egger-Lienz
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.21400#0213
ALB IN EGGER-LIENZ
reputation, and a few years later there
followed Haspinger, another remarkable
war picture. 0 a a a a
In all these works Lienz not only wanted
to portray historical facts, he also wished
to symbolise the feelings of the Tyrolese
people. Ave Maria not only meant the
actual prayer after the fight, but it ex-
presses the general thankfulness of the
Tyrolese combatants after the victory.
The Cross and Haspinger also represent
episodes which took place in the 1809 war.
In The Cross a student raises the Crucifix
above the heads of his disheartened
countrymen, leading them to victory. In
Haspinger a priest, called Haspinger, does
the same with equal effect. The facts are
there, but above all the artist desires to
symbolise the strong faith of these simple
folk who all in one body marched against
the enemy to defend their freedom and
their religion so seriously threatened. 0
Quite apart from the foregoing paint-
ings is his Dance of Death, 1809. In this
Egger-Lienz shows distinctly the new
direction of his inclination. It is his first
specimen of the pure symbolism in which
he has subsequently specialised. If the
composition of his first war pictures
shows some likeness to those of Hodler,
the well-known Swiss artist, Egger's bitter
satire now approaches Raemaekers' car-
toons. In the Dance of Death hardly any
detail is given ; it merely shows four men,
personifying the whole army, fatally driven
on to war. They are resigned to the in-
evitable, only the youngest looks longingly
back to his wooden native cottage. This
picture was exhibited for the first time in
Vienna in 1909 and met with enormous
success. 0000a
During the intervals between the differ-
ent war pictures Egger-Lienz always went
back to his favourite theme : the peasant
at work. Egger's peasant types are symbols
of humanity. The toiling, sowing, mowing
labourer is man who is told : "In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
His great view in art is to express the
earnestness of life in the shape of hard
manual labour which implies a continual,
never ending struggle with all the destroy-
ing and hostile powers beyond. 0 0
His modern compositions keep the
artistic world in continual suspense. Also
his colours which from sepia changed into
the most startling tints of blue and red
and yellow, cannot fail to astound the
" HASPINGER, 1809." BY
ALB IN EGGER-LIENZ
193
reputation, and a few years later there
followed Haspinger, another remarkable
war picture. 0 a a a a
In all these works Lienz not only wanted
to portray historical facts, he also wished
to symbolise the feelings of the Tyrolese
people. Ave Maria not only meant the
actual prayer after the fight, but it ex-
presses the general thankfulness of the
Tyrolese combatants after the victory.
The Cross and Haspinger also represent
episodes which took place in the 1809 war.
In The Cross a student raises the Crucifix
above the heads of his disheartened
countrymen, leading them to victory. In
Haspinger a priest, called Haspinger, does
the same with equal effect. The facts are
there, but above all the artist desires to
symbolise the strong faith of these simple
folk who all in one body marched against
the enemy to defend their freedom and
their religion so seriously threatened. 0
Quite apart from the foregoing paint-
ings is his Dance of Death, 1809. In this
Egger-Lienz shows distinctly the new
direction of his inclination. It is his first
specimen of the pure symbolism in which
he has subsequently specialised. If the
composition of his first war pictures
shows some likeness to those of Hodler,
the well-known Swiss artist, Egger's bitter
satire now approaches Raemaekers' car-
toons. In the Dance of Death hardly any
detail is given ; it merely shows four men,
personifying the whole army, fatally driven
on to war. They are resigned to the in-
evitable, only the youngest looks longingly
back to his wooden native cottage. This
picture was exhibited for the first time in
Vienna in 1909 and met with enormous
success. 0000a
During the intervals between the differ-
ent war pictures Egger-Lienz always went
back to his favourite theme : the peasant
at work. Egger's peasant types are symbols
of humanity. The toiling, sowing, mowing
labourer is man who is told : "In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread."
His great view in art is to express the
earnestness of life in the shape of hard
manual labour which implies a continual,
never ending struggle with all the destroy-
ing and hostile powers beyond. 0 0
His modern compositions keep the
artistic world in continual suspense. Also
his colours which from sepia changed into
the most startling tints of blue and red
and yellow, cannot fail to astound the
" HASPINGER, 1809." BY
ALB IN EGGER-LIENZ
193