CARL MOLL

(1861-1945)

Der Park von Schönbrunn mit Blick zur Gloriette

Footnotes

Provenance
Arthur Schnitzler Collection, Vienna (acquired directly from the artist on 6 December 1913).
Heinrich & Lilly (née von Strakosch-Feldringen) Schnitzler Collection, Vienna (by descent from the above in 1931).
Private collection, Vienna and US (by descent from the above).
Private collection, Los Angeles (by descent from the above).

Exhibited
(Probably) Vienna, Galerie Miethke, Kollektiv-Ausstellung Max Kurzweil und Carl Moll, March 1911.

Literature
A. Schnitzler, 'Samstag, 6. Dezember 1913', in Tagebuch, December 1913.
C. Cabuk, Carl Moll. Monografie und Werkverzeichnis, online catalogue, no. GE 256 (illustrated).

Depicting the immaculately pruned Baroque gardens of Schönbrunn Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site and to this day one of Vienna's most iconic, scenic and important cultural locations, the present works are undeniably bursting with Austrian cultural significance. Painted by Carl Moll circa 1910, the works have not been seen publicly in more than a hundred years, remaining as cherished heirlooms in the Schnitzler family since the day they were acquired directly from the artist by Arthur Schnitzler, on Saturday 6 December 1913.

Widely unacknowledged outside of his native Austria, Arthur Schnitzler was in fact arguably one of the most important European authors of the twentieth century. A contemporary of Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Stefan Zweig, his writings were landmarks of European Modernism. As an accomplished doctor in his pre-writing years and as a regular correspondent with Freud, Schnitzler was fascinated by the human psyche. He often explored dreams and the unconscious in his writings; most notably, he was the first German-speaking writer to pen fiction using the Freudian stream-of-consciousness technique. As a subject for his writings, Schnitzler sought to dissect and comment on the hypocrisy of bourgeois life in Vienna, simultaneously exploring society's hidden impulses and motivations. As had been done to his infamous contemporary, Egon Schiele, he was in fact branded a pornographer after the release of his play Reigen, in 1900. Perhaps his depiction of a supposedly morally superior Viennese society exposed and shown to be as promiscuous and sexually driven as the common man, cut too close to the bone. After his death in 1931, Schnitzler's works were subsequently subjected to the Nazis, who deemed them Entartete ('Degenerate') and burned them. Stanley Kubrick's final film, Eyes Wide Shut, is based on Schnitzler's 1926 novella, Traumnovelle.

As Arthur Schnitzler was to literary modernism, Carl Moll was a leading proponent of the Austrian avant-garde. A founding member of the Wiener Secession and close friend of Gustav Klimt, he was an integral artist to the development of Modernism in Austria at the turn of the century. Whilst certainly remaining more conservative in his style, opting to emulate more the French Impressionists and Pointillists, he was nevertheless a very prominent proselytiser for younger, more Expressionistic, artists. He would thoroughly encourage important galleries such as the Belvedere to show Modern Austrian art and was extremely active in supporting these displays, even after his separation from the Secession in 1905 with Klimt and other important members. One of his most notable contributions to the exhibition scene was the first Viennese show of Vincent van Gogh's work. Moll clearly appreciated the young artist's skill and in fact included Van Gogh's Portrait of the artist's mother in his 1906 self-portrait. He placed the work above a version of George Minne's Small Kneeling Youth, a beautiful marble figure, clasping themselves under the burden of sorrow at the dawn of the Modern age.

The present two works are classically Modern-Austrian in their square format, a shape favoured by the Secessionist artists and immortalised by Moll, as well as the likes of Klimt, Schiele and Koloman Moser. Indeed, the present panels are particularly reminiscent of the small 'jewel-like' Bretter that Schiele was gifted by Arthur Roessler during his time in Krumau and Neulengbach, in 1911. These smaller panels enabled Schiele to engage in a more spontaneous working method due to their manoeuvrable size; especially the ability to work en plein air. This immediacy and intention to capture the light and the moment is especially prevalent in both of these depictions of Schönbrunn. In lot 8, identified by the edge of the famous Gloriette building in the south of the gardens, Johann Wilhelm Beyer's 1777 statue of Bacchantin and the long westward shadows cast over the tall hedgerows, Moll has evidently set up his easel near the Taubenhaus, on the edge of the wide Grosses Parterre that runs between the hilltop and the palace. He quietly captures a serene summer's morning, with people ambling their daybreak stroll; a pair of elegantly dressed ladies in their summer blouses seated in the centre, perhaps quietly discussing the latest in the Viennese art scene. A more solitary but nonetheless tranquil view in lot 9, the gentle flow of one of the two Najadenbrunnen fountains can be seen, caught in a ray of sun, whose beams have trickled through the branches to dapple the shaded foreground. It is most likely the Östlicher Najadenbrunnen, or Eastern Naiad Fountain, just down from the Taubenhaus.

The palace was originally intended as a hunting lodge, however swiftly developed into a palatial residence over the course of the eighteenth century. Evidenced in its popularity to the present day it has remained a favoured recreational amenity for the Viennese populace since its creation. Its connection to the Imperial Monarchy of Austria-Hungary meant that the subject was particularly en vogue for collectors of the time and in fact Moll was focusing on the gardens of Schönbrunn in the 1910-1911 period for an exhibition at the Galerie Miethke, Kollektiv-Ausstellung Max Kurzweil und Carl Moll. The present two works are part of this group and were most likely shown in the exhibition, though their number in the catalogue is difficult to discern. Other panels from the series are held by the Neue Galerie Graz, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, and other private collections, with works from Moll's entire oeuvre held in almost all of Austria's leading public collections.

Arthur Schnitzler, whilst focusing his written themes on cross-examining the conservative classes of high-brow Vienna, clearly was also taken by the beauty of these works shortly after their creation. Having kept a meticulous diary from the age of 17 until two days before his death in 1931, his flowing dialogue offers us a snapshot into his visit to Moll's studio with his wife, Olga Gussmann: '6/12 With O. at Antiquitäten Berger's. - Then at Moll Hohe Warte, in the studio. His pictures (Schönbrunn, Venice, Göding) very fine. Choice? [...] We took five pictures with us, want to keep 2 of them. [...] Julius, Helene, Richard Paula Gustav with us in the evening. The Moll pictures were very pleasing.' (A. Schnitzler, 'Samstag, 6. Dezember 1913', in Tagebuch, December 1913). It was in fact Schnitzler's dedication to note writing that later saved the life of his then ex-wife, Olga (listed as 'O.' in the aforementioned diary). With the rise of the Nazis and the subsequent persecution of Jews and those deemed Entartete, she escaped Vienna by convincing Cambridge University - the guardians of Schnitzler's notes and archives - that she was the only person who could read his scrawling handwriting.