What drew central Europeans toward the American West at the turn of the 20th century? Carl Kauba (1865-22), son of an Austrian shoemaker, dedicated much of his artistic career to faithful bronze models of American Indians, in a style unique to Vienna but guided by the academic principles of belle epoque Paris.
It is easy to imagine him among the millions of enthralled spectators at one of the “Buffalo Bill Wild West” shows that first arrived in Austria in 1891, or deeply engrossed in the pages of texts, illustrated by exquisite artwork and compelling photographs, published by numerous Europeans as first-hand accounts of travels in the American West, or conceived as fiction by the popular German author Karl May.
But it is likely something much deeper than a whiff of spectacle or page of text inspired Kauba, who was a friend of Gustav Klimt and deeply immersed in the Viennese intellectual art movement. What I suspect he saw in the American Indian was the end of a long way of life, an ideal image to romanticize pre-industrial America, as European artists revived troubadours and knights in armor to capture their own pre-industrial past. The past of proud Plains people was still present in Kauba’s time, but rapidly fading into sepia prints and reservations. Kauba kept his subjects alive, frozen in time and immortalized in full polychromatic splendor. Rookwood pottery did the same with a few splendid vases, and a handful of American painters were there, capturing their subjects en plein air, but Kauba, working from his studio in Austria, ranks alongside the great American western sculptors of his time.
The Vienna bronzes offered February 25 by Heritage Auctions in its Art of the West Showcase Auction are from one of the most comprehensive collections of its type ever assembled, the lifetime passion of Joseph and Sonia Zobel, who amassed over 200 of the finest over many decades. In 2022, Heritage will offer bronzes from the Zobel Collection in several auctions, but these are the first and only ones depicting the American West – some of the best you will ever see.
Heritage Auctions’ Art of the West Showcase Auction will be on February 25, with bidding beginning approximately February 4 on HA.com. For more information, contact Heritage Auctions Senior Vice President, Special Collections, Nick Dawes at 212-486-3512 or at NickD@HA.com.
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