Spanish school, 20th century. Following models by KARL HAGENAUER (1898-1956)
Bronze.
Measurements: 57 x 46 x 6 cm.
In this bronze sculpture, the author wanted to express the extreme lightness that the dancer's body assumes, giving it a filiform canon. The long open arms seem about to take flight and the slender legs form a triangle in the air, supporting the body in perfect equilibrium on the tip of one foot.
The son of the goldsmith Carl Hagenauer, Karl studied at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, where he was taught by Josef Hoffmann and Oskar Strnad and imbued with the spirit of the Wiener Wekstätte. After obtaining his diploma in architecture, he did military service between 1917 and 1919, and on his return he began to work as an architect and in his father's studio. During these years he created numerous pieces in silver, brass, copper, enamel, ivory, stone and wood. In 1928, after his father's death, he took over the management of the workshop and was responsible for the expansion of the firm, extending production to cabinetmaking and opening shops in Vienna and Salzburg. Since then he has exhibited his best pieces both in Austria and abroad, was twice awarded the gold medal at the Milan Triennale and was made a member of the Austrian Werkbund and the Werkstätte. His works are now in collections all over the world, including the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, the MoMA and the Jewish Museum in New York, the Casa Lis in Salamanca and many others.