106 - OSWALD HERZOG

OSWALD HERZOG (1881 Haynau – 1946 Teplitz-Schönau) Reclining Nude Marble. 33 x 57 x 30 cm. Signed on the back right of the plinth: “O. Herzog” (incised). Signs of age and wear; plinth chipped in places; overall in good condition. A very rare work by the artist in marble. Accompanied by a wooden pedestal, painted white, 61 x 52 x 30.5 cm. Oswald Herzog was a sculptor, art theorist, and member of the November Group. For his Cubist-influenced sculptures, reduced to basic geometric forms, he coined his own term—abstract expressionism—and elaborated on it in writings such as *Plastik, Sinfonie des Lebens* (*Sculpture, Symphony of Life*). In 1937, the National Socialists denounced him as “degenerate” and confiscated a work from the Alte Nationalgalerie. The reclining figure defies anatomical description in favor of a purely rhythmic approach to form. Herzog does not break down the human body into basic geometric forms, as Cubism does, but rather follows what he himself calls the “law of the curve”: The transitions between the head, torso, and limbs are not rendered as anatomical joints, but as flowing, intertwining curves that transform the entire block of marble into a single, continuous movement. A defining feature of Herzog’s understanding of “Expressionism” is that this movement is not a representation of an external action, but becomes the direct expression of an inner impulse of movement itself—the form does not express an emotion or attitude; it is the movement. In this way, the work pushes the boundaries of abstraction without crossing them. The theme of the nude remains intact—weight, stillness, the act of stretching out—while the form breaks away from it and follows its own rhythm. Each direction offers a different perspective, and the openwork makes the stone appear lighter than it is. Crafted in white marble with fine gray veining, the surface is polished to a matte finish; in some places, tool marks remain visible. Herzog’s works in this material are extremely rare. Unlike a bronze cast, which is produced in editions, this figure exists as a one-of-a-kind piece.