Style Other / Ref.10540

STEINER, Hermann, The Lost Soul

This small sculpture in carved walnut, a work of fabulous inventiveness, is by the Tyrolean artist Hermann Steiner (Merano, 1878-1963). Son of the sculptor Sebastian Steiner and husband of the painter Adele Perlemutter, he created works of rare intensity, combining sacred and secular themes. Furniture, ornamental masks, virtuoso sculptures—Steiner's art conjures mysterious figures from the depths of the wood. According to the Thieme-Becker and Benezit biographical dictionaries of artists, Hermann Steiner was awarded a gold medal at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. A few of his pieces are exhibited in museum collections: the Vatican Museums hold a carved rosary by the artist. Representing Austria, Steiner participated in the Deutsche Luftkriegsbeute Ausstellung exhibition in Munich in 1918, exhibited at the Milan International Fair in 1952, and at the Bari International Fair in 1955. Our sculpture depicts a swarm of faces from which a bust-length man stands out, representing the human soul, his arms folded in an attitude of both protest and protection. A group of four distorted faces comes to life in a whirlwind of malevolent spirits seeking to drive the soul to its doom. In this chaos, the human soul seems to have found salvation: the exchange of glances with the angelic face is the only reciprocal interaction between the figures in the sculpted group. Seeking the soul with his gaze, a final demon, positioned between the human figure and the cherub, makes one last attempt to lure it toward vice. This virtuoso work, imbued with a palpable sense of inner life, reflects the temptations and choices that torment and trouble the human soul. Signed "H. Steiner," our piece rests on a separate wooden base.