(Gaudenzdorf near Vienna 1863–1929)
“Melpomene”, c. 1907, mixed media with tempera, inlaying, contours partly incised on eternit, 100 x 100 cm, framed (original frame), (K)

Melpomene- “the singing one”, one of nine muses, daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne. She is the muse of tragic poetry and dirge. Her attributes are: the tragic mask, a wreath of vines and a club - in our image a dagger.

Exhibited with full-page illustration in the catalogue:
XXX. Ausstellung der Vereinigung bildender Künstler Österreichs Secession Wien - Seiner Majestät Kaiser Franz Josef I. zugeeignet, Wien 3. April 1908. Am XI. Jahrestage ihrer Gründung, cat. no. 56

Die Kunst für alle, 23/1907- 1908, page 385, ill. and description “Die Frühjahrsausstellung der Wiener Secession”, page 393: ... Leopold Stolba’s “Melpomene” (fig. p. 385) is based on stylistic efforts revealed by technical experiments. Contours are etched into the eternit ground surface, inlaid with colourful platelets such as lapis lazuli and mother-of-pearl, the tempera paint is applied very thinly...

Provenance:
Dr. Ilse Knapitsch-Jaksche Collection (1899–1979), Vienna
- her heirs

Famed were his unique paste & marbled papers. He lived as a lonely misfit amongst his 200 rare cacti, incessantly experimenting with painting techniques. Well-reputed as a caricaturist. Created stucco reliefs (relief ‘Euterpe’) and inlays of chased brass for Klinger’s ‘Beethoven’ exhibition at the Secession (1902).
Thieme-Becker, Künstlerlexikon, vol. XXXII

additional image:
The members of the Secession, ÖNB Wien Pf 31931D3