Böser Hund. 1949.
Bronze with mit golden brown patina.
With the artist's signet and the number on the underside. From an edition of twelve (planned) copies. 13 x 25.5 x 6 cm (5.1 x 10 x 2.3 in).
Cast in 1952 by Barth, Rinteln (with the foundry mark on the underside. [CH].

• This work showcases the artist's unique skill in capturing the animals' distinct character and peculiarities with pronounced lines and simplified details.
• Just two years later, Gerhard Marcks created his most famous animal sculpture, the “Town Musicians of Bremen".
• Alongside Barlach, Lehmbruck and Kolbe, Gerhard Marcks is considered the most important German sculptor of the last century.

We are grateful to Dr. Arie Hartog, Gerhard-Marcks-Haus, Bremen, for his kind support in cataloging this lot.

PROVENANCE: Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin.
Private collection Hamburg (acquired frm the above in 1983).
Ever since family-owned.

EXHIBITION: Gerhard Marcks. Dem großen Bildhauer zum Gedächtnis (special catalog 15), Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin, February 16-May 31, 1983, cat. no. 24.
- -
(Each a different copy)
Gerhard Marcks, Curt Valentin Gallery, New York, 1951, cat. no. 38.
Gerhard Marcks. Neuere Arbeiten (Wanderausstellung II), Hamburg/Bremen/Cologne/Dortmund/Stuttgart and others, 1951-1952, cat. no. 3.
Gerhard Marcks. Plastik, Zeichnungen, Graphik, Kunsthalle, Kiel, 1952, cat. no. 2.
Gerhard Marcks. Bildwerke, Holzschnitte, Zeichnungen (1931-1953), Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main, 1954, cat. no. 33.
Gerhard Marcks. South Africa (traveling exhibition IV, Deutscher Kunstrat), Johannesburg/Durban/Stellenbosch and others, 1955, cat. no. 11 (illustrated).
Gerhard Marcks. Afrikana (traveling exhibition V), Hamburg/Bremen/Tübingen/Heidelberg et al. 1956-1958 (no cat.).
Gerhard Marcks. Skulpturen, Handzeichnungen und Graphik, Nationalgalerie, Berlin (East), 1958, cat. no. 50.
A Comprehensive Exhibition of Bronze Sculpture by Gerhard Marcks, Leonard Hutton Galleries, New York, 1967, cat. no. 40.
Gerhard Marcks, Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf, 1968, cat. no. 10.
Gerhard Marcks. Werke der Kölner Jahre 1950 bis 1969, Kunstverein, Cologne, 1969, cat. no. 5.
Gerhard Marcks, Kunstverein, Mannheim, 1969, cat. no. 57.
Gerhard Marcks - zum 85. Geburtstag, Galerie Vömel, Düsseldorf, 1974, cat. no. 9 (illustrated).
Gerhard Marcks - zum 85. Geburtstag, Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin, 1974, cat. no. 5.

LITERATURE: Martina Rudloff and Günter Busch (eds.), Gerhard Marcks. Das plastische Werk, Berlin 1977, no. 532 (illustrated, different copy).
- -
Günter Busch, Gerhard Marcks. Tierplastik, Wiesbaden 1954 ( illustrated, different copy).

"But how does the human desire to create come to choose the animal as its object? Probably for the very reason of love. Strangely enough, the first known works of art are depictions of animals. The fact that the animal was the only clearly defined form of expression in the primeval landscape, in contrast to man, was a clear distant image. And there was a time when man owed his existence only to the animal. A city dweller can no longer imagine that today."
Gerhard Marcks, quoted from: Martina Rudloff and Günter Busch (eds.), Gerhard Marcks. Das plastische Werk, Berlin 1977, p. 78.

To view artwork condition please click on the high-definition images and use the zoom function.