(Vienna 1862-1945)
Two designs for the "Fries mit der Allegorie zur 2. Symphonie von Franz Schmidt" (Frieze with an allegory for the 2nd symphony of Franz Schmidt), c. 1914, each signed A. F. Seligmann and monogrammed A. F. S., mixed media on millboard, laid down on canvas, 39 x 94 cm and 39,5 x 154 cm, inscribed "Franz Schmidt Symphonie in Es-Dur - angefertigt für das Musikzimmer... von Ella Zirner I" and "II" (Franz Schmidt Symphony in Es-major, made for the music salon… of Ella Zirner) on a label on the reverse, damaged (tears, scratches), framed, (2), (Sch)

Provenance:
Adalbert Franz Seligmann until c. 1945/46;
sale of the artist to Ernst Max Gramm (*1889), Vienna and Stuttgart;
Private collection Stuttgart

The designs offered here were made in preparation for a decorative frieze with an allegory for the 2nd symphony by the composer Franz Schmidt (1874-1939). The frieze was originally made for the music salon of the Vienna downtown apartment of Ella Zirner-Zwieback (1878-1970). Ella Zirner-Zwieback was born in Vienna in 1878. She was the daughter of the Jewish family of merchants Ludwig Zwieback (1844-1906). She became the head of the Viennese fashion house "Ludwig Zwieback & Bruder" in Vienna I and was also a trained pianist. She met Franz Schmidt during her piano studies at the conservatory and was his close friend. According to family tradition, the two played often four-handed or on two pianos in her music salon. Therefore it is not surprising that she commissioned an allegorical frieze based on a symphony by the composer friend to decorate the salon. Adalbert Franz Seligmann may have executed the frieze one year after the first performance of the music piece (1913) in 1914. The present sketches each show figures from the 1st and 2nd movement of the symphony with dance-like motifs;
they can also be seen in the executed frieze. Ella Zirner-Zwieback was forced to sell the original frieze (oil on canvas, 8 parts) after the National Socialists gained power. The Municipal Collections acquired the frieze in 1943 from "Antike Wohnungseinrichtungen Friedrich Otto Schmidt, Wien 9, Währingerstr. 28". In 2006 the frieze was restituted to the heirs of Ella Zirner-Zwieback. The present designs were in Seligmann's possession until about 1945/46 and came into private ownership through a sale by the artist.