(Stribach near Lienz 1868–1926 St. Justina near Bolzano)
“Totentanz 1809”, signed, dated Egger-Lienz 1916, variant of the fourth version (property of the Leopold Museum – Kirschl M352), casein on canvas, 130 x 165 cm, in original frame

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Illustrated and registered:
Wilfried Kirschl. Albin Egger-Lienz. Das Gesamtwerk, Edition Tusch, 1977, ill. p. 130, registered p. 545, M353 – mentioned there:
“This variant differs from the fourth version mainly in the repeatedly marked emphasis on the horizontal lines in the terrain and the overlying cloud bands.”
Wilfried Kirschl. Albin Egger-Lienz, Verlag Christian Brandstätter, 1996, vol. I, ill. p. 130, registered vol. II, p. 545, M353 (also with the above mentioned addition)

Regulation of language use with regard to:
Version: a work is referred to here as the first, second or third version of a theme, only if it contains design elements in an independent object that deviate significantly from earlier iterations of colour or form.

Variations and replicas: these works deviate only slightly from earlier ones and are clearly based on them in their colour and formal structure. Kirschl, vol. II, p. 502

Inscription on the reverse of the frame:
Prof. A. Egger-Lienz in Bozen.

Label in the artist’s handwriting:
Ort der Rücksendung:
Prof. Albin Egger-Lienz
St. Justina bei Bozen Tirol
Gegenstand: Totentanz 1809 in Tirol
Verkaufspreis: 30.000 Kronen
Versicherungswert: 30.000 Kronen
Prof. A. Egger-Lienz

Exhibited and published:
Stedelijk Museum. Amsterdam. Österreichische und ungarische Maler u. Bildhauer. 14 October – 15 November 1917, cat. 71 with ill. on the cover – this exhibition was organised by the Wiener Secession and the Wiener Künstlerhaus
Kunstsalon Emil Richter Dresden (1918) 69 89 – label on the reverse –
exhibitions and exhibition participations see Kirschl vol. II, p. 637

Provenance:
Collection Elisabeth Rethberg, German-American opera singer (1894–1976), Dresden/Yorktown Heights, N.Y.
1950ies sale to Donald Gabor (1912–1980), Riverdale, N.Y.
thence by descent to his heirs – Private Collection, USA

In his 1915 essay for Defregger’s 80th birthday, Egger outlined what he demanded of a historical painting. This was in contrast to Defregger‘s “Letzes Aufgebot”, and emphasises what his “Totentanz“ was essentially about:
...The spirit of history demands a different temperament. When art becomes myth, all civility and depiction fail; indeed, they prevent the development of pure form, which alone must dominate.
Such a picture must at first sight reveal the equality of object and painter only through the distribution of space, the lines, and the use of colour. The journey into the “pure human”, detached from the milieu, is the only way for pure form [...] The most radical contrast to the art of the “Aufgebot” is my “Totentanz”, in which a single chord penetrates and dominates, so that at a single glance the full effect of the image is obvious through the unity of form, whereas in the “Aufgebot”, as in a narrative, one must first leaf through to take in everything [...] The tragic always goes beyond the great and demands the highest degree of simplicity, the renunciation of every addition, every luxury (or even theatrical means, as in the picture „Andreas Hofer‘s Last Walk” [painting by Franz v. Defregger from 1878]. A more concise form, which has become a style, deepens the tragedy and brings spirituality, taking away its material, episodic nature and making it symbolic.

On 21 March 1908, the exhibition celebrating the 60th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. opened in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. The just finished casein version (first casein replica (Kirschl M226) of the destroyed first version in oil M223)
„Der Totentanz von Anno Neun“ was exhibited.

From Egger-Lienz, report on the impression made by his Totentanz.
I chose the theme of “Totentanz Anno Neun”. The government personalities in Vienna probably envisioned the Tyroleans marching out against the enemy; they spoke and dreamed of „flying flags“ and „joyfully“ going to war, cheering the monarch with good peasants for whom no sacrifice is too great for their dearly beloved imperial house, for whom death is not a horror but the most welcome opportunity to sacrifice themselves as loyal subjects. The first time one of the government personalities saw the painting in progress, I began to have a bad feeling, they shrugged their shoulders and decided that the picture contained social-democratic tendencies, that the horrors of war were depicted instead of a joyful, jubilant people marching into the „battle“. ...
see Kirschl, vol. I, p. 126