3845 - Wilhelm Woernle, “Angel of Life” after Segantini

Wilhelm Woernle, “Angel of Life” after Segantini Giovanni Segantini (1858-1899) created several versions of this symbolist motif between 1894 and 1896 “L’angelo della vita”, depicting a young mother with a small child amidst the gnarled branches of a deciduous tree against the mountainous landscape of the Engadin, as an embodiment of nature and motherhood, thereby subtly alluding to the traditional Christian context of Mary and Jesus; Etching based on Segantini’s motif, c. 1910, signed in graphite “Wilh. Woernle”, embossed stamp “Gesellschaft für vervielfältigte Kunst Wien” in the lower part of the sheet, slight signs of age, framed behind glass, image dimensions approx. 32 x 24.5 cm. Artist’s biography: German-Austrian painter, graphic artist and reproduction engraver (1849, Stuttgart - 1916, Vienna), 1863-67: apprenticeship as a copperplate engraver and etcher with Veit Froer (1828-1900) in Stuttgart; at the same time, a pupil at the Stuttgart Art School under Bernhard von Neher, thereafter worked in the studio of the reproduction engraver Adolf Wagenmann, subsequently received friendly support from Heinrich Zügel in Munich; 1873-75: study trip to Italy with a stay in Venice; on the occasion of Emperor Franz Joseph I’s visit to Venice, he produced illustrative drawings for the “Illustrierte Zeitung’, which were widely circulated as woodcuts; returned to Munich around 1875 as a painter and etcher, where he contributed to the ‘Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst’ published by E. A. Seemann, whilst also working for the Verein für vervielfältigende Kunst in Vienna, In 1879, he moved to Vienna, where he was supported as a friend by William Unger and, from 1881, succeeded him as a teacher of etching techniques at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, In 1882, he spent time in Italy once again; in 1885, he was awarded the Gold Medal for Art and Science by King Karl of Württemberg; among other things, he exhibited at the ‘International Exhibition of Graphic Arts’ in 1883 and at the Vienna Annual Exhibitions; Source: Thieme-Becker, Saur’s ‘Bio-Bibliographical Encyclopaedia of Artists’, Wurzbach, Boetticher, Müller-Singer, Jansa and the internet.