Fritz Koenig (1924 Würzburg - Altdorf 2017) Lot n° 744

Fritz Koenig (1924 Würzburg - Altdorf 2017), Old Rider. Bronze. 1959. approx. 32 x 10,5 x 9,5 cm. One of only 4 casts. With incised signature on the base behind. The motif of the horseman has a permanent place in the work of Fritz Koenig. At the beginning of this pictorial invention is Koenig's 1957 stay in Rome, as a scholarship holder at the Villa Massimo. It was the monument to Vittorio Emanuel II with the quadriga, visible from afar, that inspired the young sculptor. Still in 1957 he created a quadriga himself, which clearly follows the historical model in its arrangement of the charioteer and the animals. Only in style is it a contemporary variant, more abstract, softer and more flowing in form. In the further course of the 1950s Fritz Koenig develops his own formal language and gains freedom. Above all, the equestrian figures of this period bear witness to the sculptor's very own idiom; in them, man and animal merge to form centaur-like hybrid beings. Fritz Koenig links tradition and self-experienced present in his sculptures, as a sculptor and horse breeder, his riders are an expression of a creaturely agreement. Clarenbach 213. Taxation: differential taxation (VAT: Margin Scheme).