Georg Lührig (German, 1868-1957)
Aktstudie (Nude Study)
oil on canvas
127,5 x 63 cm (unframed); 53 1/4 x 28 inches (including frame)
Provenance: Estate (Nachlass) of the Artist
Perhaps a design for a mural.
The Daulton Collection
Exhibition History:
"Arte e Magia: Il Fascino dell'Esoterismo in Europa," Palazzo Roverella, Rovigo, Italy, September 29, 2018 - January 27, 2019.
Publication History:
Francesco Parisi, ed., Arte e Magia: Il Fascino dell'Esoterismo in Europa (Milan: Silvana Editoriale, 2018), Cat. Nr. 73, pgs. 190 (ill.) and 299.
Discussion:
Lührig's painting "Aktstudie" was included in the 2018 exhibition "Arte e Magia: Il Fascino dell'Esoterismo in Europa," at the Palazzo Roverella, Rovigo, Italy. In the exhibition catalogue, art historian Tobias Kӓmpf observed that the painting showed the influence of the theosophical and anthroposophical ideas of Rudolf Steiner:
“Georg Lührig
offers a classic example of the etheric body according to the most advanced
theosophy and the anthroposophy of Rudolf Steiner. Lührig's standing female nude – a
clear reference to Rodin's Eve – with her arms folded to cover her face is
surrounded by a halo of iridescent luminosity that transcends the physical body
while remaining united with it. In this way, Lührig highlights the ephemeral
transience of the corporeal mass as the covering of the true spiritual essence,
as the English theosophist Annie Besant (1847-1933) theorized in 1896 in her
book Man and His Bodies.” (English-language translation from the Italian-language original)
