Terms and conditions of use
Summer, from The four seasons
(1906-1908)
Medium
earthenware
Measurements
38.6 × 24.8 × 19.7 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased with the assistance of the National Gallery Women's Association, 1997
Gallery location
Mid 20th Century Paintings & Decorative Arts Gallery
Level 2, NGV International
About this work
The allegorical putto is here seen in twentieth-century guise. The scale of these ceramic sculptures representing the four seasons suggests architectural ornament, although they are clearly intended for domestic display. The stylised, geometrically inflected forms and bright, modern palette of the figures reflect the aesthetic concerns of the Secession movement in Vienna in the first decades of the twentieth century. A traditional image is given a new, self-consciously modern appearance, in a strategy typical of early Viennese modernism.
Artwork Details
Inscription
impressed in top of base in rear: WK (monogram) / ... / .. / . MP (monogram)
painted (diagonally) in black on base: 'E/W
impressed (diagonally) (inverted) in base: I / MP (monogram) / WK (monogram) / ... / .. / . / 73
painted (diagonally) (inverted) in base: /4
Accession Number
1997.327
Department
International Decorative Arts
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Ms Carol Grigor through Metal Manufactures Limited
Physical description
Striding figure of a putto carrying a cornucopia of fruit and flowers, and standing on a circular base, made in white earthenware and glazed, with polychrome decoration including yellow for hair and drapery, the base green with a black edge, the cornucopia wth a grid pattern in gliding.