Wunsiedel, Oberfranken 1881 - 1965 Wien
Tiger Head
from the series “Schönbrunner Tiertypen”Colour woodcut
29.8 x 28 cm (image)
35 x 30.5 cm (sheet)
Signed lower right: L. H. JUNGNICKEL
Spielvogel-Bodo WV no. OG.29
Literatur:
cf. Ilse Spielvogel-Bodo, Ludwig Heinrich Jungnickel. Ein Leben für die Kunst. Mit einem Werkkatalog der Druckgraphik, Klagenfurt 2000, ill. p. 121 and ill. p. 324, WV no. OG.29
cf. Exhibition catalogue “Kunst für alle. Der Farbholzschnitt in Wien um
1900“, ed. by Tobias G. Natter, Max Hollein, Klaus Albrecht Schröder, Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt and Albertina Vienna 2016/17, ill. p. 147
An absolute highlight within Jungnickel’s extensive artistic oeuvre is a series of ten coloured woodcuts called „Schönbrunner Tiertypen“ (Animal types of Schönbrunn). Founded in 1752 by Emperor Franz I., Vienna’s Schönbrunn is the oldest zoo in the world. In 1909/10 Jungnickel was granted permission and financial support by emperor Franz Joseph I to study and draw the animals housed in the menagerie. Jungnickel created magnificent coloured woodcuts on precious Japan paper depicting cats of prey, flamingos, parrots, monkeys and marabous.
Heavily influenced by Japanese woodcuts (introduced to a broader European public on the occasion of the World Fair in Vienna 1873) the often zoomed in motif is strongly anchored in a square pictorial plane. The clear contours and the lack of any background décor are further characteristics of this series.
Jungnickel attracted considerable attention with these works in Austria as well as internationally: in 1911 he received the award for graphic artists from the international art fair in Rome and a little later he was awarded the gold medal in Amsterdam.