Scowling Man, a so-called Charakterkopf
Franz Xaver Messerschmidt
Bratislava, after 1770
Tin alloy
43,0 x 23,0 x 22,5 cm
Inv.-Nr. 73/205
Acquired in 1973
Gallery 46
Franz Xaver Messerschmidt was a nephew and pupil of Johann Baptist Straub, but his work shows no traces of his celebrated teacher's influence. Instead he was a pioneer of the new, early neo-classical movement in art which was nascent in Vienna around 1770. His best-known works are his 49 heads known as Charakterköpfe, characters or character types; this perhaps somewhat silly sounding title was given to them only after the artist's death. These are actually self-portraits with which he was trying to sound out the possibilities of expression on the human face. The oddly rigid scowls emerging from this should probably be viewed in connection with the mental illness of the artist.
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
des Bayerischen Nationalmuseum
