Type: Limited edition prints
Size: 33cm x 48cm / 50cm x 65cm
Tirage: 100 copies each
A pencil drawing of The Mounted Amazon (German : Reitende Amazone) statue made by Franz Ritter von Stuck in 1900.
The naked Amazon grasps the mane of her bare horse with her left hand in order to throw a spear with her right in a powerful and at the same time graceful movement: the figure shows a moment of absolute tension, a second of pausing, of precise aiming, in the midst a sweeping movement. The woman's beautifully stylized body forms an attractive contrast to her combative gesture. Not only the dynamic and at the same time perfectly balanced composition of the bronze, but also its smooth, detailed surface with black-brown patina are typical of Stuck's neoclassical style.
Amazon is one of von Stuck's most celebrated sculptures and embodies the artist's fascination with both the 'femme fatale' and the Neo-Classical during the final decade of the 19th century. Von Stuck first approached the subject of the Amazonian female warrior through several paintings circa 1897 and, after meticulous drafts and well-documented preparatory sketches, realised the full dramatic potential of his subject as a three-dimensional work of art. As offered here in consecutive lots, Amazon was frequently paired with Verwundeter zentaur (Wounded centaur),
Today a life-size cast of Amazon stands outside the Villa Stuck, Munich, as designed by the artist, and two other casts of the model by the Leyrer foundry may be found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and in the Princeton University Art Museum.
Franz Ritter von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. In 1906, Stuck was awarded the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown and was henceforth known as Ritter von Stuck.
In Greek mythology, the Amazons (Greek: Ἀμαζόνες) were a group of female warriors and hunters, who were as skilled and courageous as men in physical agility, strength, archery, riding skills, and the arts of combat. Their society was closed to men and they only raised their daughters and returned their sons to their fathers, with whom they would only socialize briefly in order to reproduce.
