Eine Stadt1989Sheet: 12 1/4 x 17 1/4 " (31.1 x 43.8 cm)Ink on Schoellershammer 4G illustration boardGift of Helen and Jack Bershad2012.20.20black ink drawing of multiple abstract figures in profile facing to the left1551514588Oswald TschirtnerDrawingstitled 'Eine Stadt' in ink upper center; dated '1987' in ink upper rightSchoellershammer blindstamp lower right sheet corner'O.T.' in ink upper rightGuggingGuggingAustriaWorks on PaperAmerican Folk Art MuseumGuggingBeginning in the 1950s, around the time that Oswald Tschirtner entered the Gugging-Klosterneuburg hospital outside Vienna, the Austrian psychiatrist Leo Navratil began encouraging his patients to draw the human figure. Tschirtner, a former seminary student who fought in World War II, allegedly drew only when prompted by Navratil, who was interested in the relationship between schizophrenia and artistic expression. Many art critics have commented on the distinctive economy of expression that characterizes Tschirtner's drawings. His principal subjects are "Kopffüßler"—or "head-footers," whose bodies are minimally delineated shafts in which faces and feet predominate. These sparsely decorated, schematic figures populate his pictures in repetitive groupings that may hark back to his experience of rank-and-file military formations.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Eine Stadt (A Town)," exhibition label for Recent Gifts. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2013.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgFleisher Ollman Gallery label on verso of frame, see object file 19891989 2012 20 2 Beginning in the 1950s, around the time that Oswald Tschirtner entered the Gugging-Klosterneuburg hospital outside Vienna, the Austrian psychiatrist Leo Navratil began encouraging his patients to draw the human figure. Tschirtner, a former seminary student who fought in World War II, allegedly drew only when prompted by Navratil, who was interested in the relationship between schizophrenia and artistic expression. Many art critics have commented on the distinctive economy of expression that characterizes Tschirtner's drawings. His principal subjects are "Kopffüßler"—or "head-footers," whose bodies are minimally delineated shafts in which faces and feet predominate. These sparsely decorated, schematic figures populate his pictures in repetitive groupings that may hark back to his experience of rank-and-file military formations.
Stacy C. Hollander, "Eine Stadt (A Town)," exhibition label for Recent Gifts. Stacy C. Hollander, curator. New York: American Folk Art Museum, 2013.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated with new research. Records are reviewed and revised, and the American Folk Art Museum welcomes additional information.
To help improve this record, please email photoservices@folkartmuseum.orgFleisher Ollman Gallery label on verso of frame, see object file