Albin Egger-Lienz

(Stribach bei Lienz 1868–1926 St. Justina bei Bozen)
Kopf des letzten Bauern aus dem “Totentanz” (Head of the last Peasant from the “Totentanz”), c. 1922, signed Egger-Lienz, watercolour on paper, 35.5 x 31.5 cm, framed
Listed and illustrated:
Wilfried Kirschl, Albin Egger-Lienz. Das Gesamtwerk, Wien-München 1996, vol. II, p. 610, cat. rais. no. Z 478

Provenance:
Franz Grüner (1879–1953), Innsbruck (until 1934)
Fritz Müller, Munich (until 1940)
Private Collection, Tyrol, acquired from the above
thence by descent to the present owner - Private Collection, Switzerland

An old envelope on the reverse shows the sender’s address “Prof. Egger-Lienz, Bozen St. Justina” and the delivery address “Herrn II. Landeshauptmann Dr. Franz Grüner, Advokat“, along with a postmark dated ”20. 6. 24“.

After 1920, Egger-Lienz returned to earlier motifs and reworked them in watercolour. The sculptural quality of his painting, in which form constitutes the central concern, emerges with particular force in this softer technique shaped by transparent colour. Dispensing with lines, the artist articulates the farmer’s angular features solely through the monochrome modulation of colour, thereby endowing them with an immediate and powerful presence.

Franz Grüner was Deputy Governor for the Tyrolean Socialist Party (1919–1928), while also achieving success as an entrepreneur and becoming the owner of Schloss Itter. In 1929, following criticism of his business activities, he left the party and withdrew from all political offices. His subsequent financial decline forced him to sell his art collection in 1934. The watercolour by Egger-Lienz was acquired by the Munich painter Fritz Müller.