6176 - Skarbina, Franz

Skarbina, Franz "Ave Maria": Woman with a Rosary in the Cemetery in Schenna, South Tyrol. Oil on canvas. 69.5 x 98.5 cm. Signed “F. Skarbina” lower left, inscribed “Ave M[aria?]” on the painting, and inscribed “Fr Skarbina / Ave-Maria” on the reverse by another hand. In this atmospherically rich painting, Franz Skarbina focuses on a woman praying as she stands, a rosary in her hands, walking along a cemetery path in a South Tyrolean village. The title “Ave Maria” not only refers to the silent prayer but also lends the entire scene a sacred, almost liturgical aura. The woman wears a simple South Tyrolean traditional costume. The frontal composition with which she faces the viewer allows the viewer to share in her private devotion. Skarbina is known to have worked in South Tyrol on several occasions between 1881 and 1896. Several cemetery scenes date from this period, including the smaller work “Cemetery in Schenna” (Bassenge Auction 120, Lot 8004). As in “Cemetery in Schenna,” the woman is depicted here from a sensitive distance, nestled in a landscape that radiates comfort and tranquility despite the motif of death. Skarbina’s works from this creative phase are still noticeably influenced by the realism characterized by Adolph Menzel, yet at the same time they already reveal a subtle sense of mood, transitions, and psychological depth—traits that would increasingly define his work later on. Provenance: Hugo Helbing, Munich; the art collection of Prof. Albert Schmidt, Munich; as well as paintings from the estates of Prof. Franz Skarbina, Berlin [...] and artist F. Pernat, auction on October 18, 1913, lot 203 (“Ave Maria”). Private collection, Berlin. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog. - Please ask for condition reports for individual lots, as the condition is usually not mentioned in the catalog.