a suite of 16 superb drawings enclosed in the original portfolio box

Private Collection of a Noble Family, Vienna, 1909
Collection, Zagreb prior to 1933
Possibly with David Kierschenbaum, Carnegie Book Shop, New York
Peter H. Brandt, New York
Thence by descent to the present owner

Franz Keim, Die Nibelungen: Dem deutschen Volke wiedererzählt. Bilder und Ausstattung von C. O. Czeschka, Vienna, 1909
Berta Zuckerland, “Kunst und Kultur, Die Nibelungen,” Wiener Allgmeinen Zeitung no. 9258, February 6, 1909 (for a mention of the portfolio in the collection of Noble Family, Vienna)
Wilhelm Michel, "Rezeptive Begabung," Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, October 1909, pp. 79-83
Gerlach & Wiedling publisher, Letter to Professor Carl Otto Czeschka, May 12, 1933 (for the mention of the portfolio, previously in a Zagreb Collection)
Ulrich Schulte-Wulwer, Das Nibelungenlied in der deutschen Kunst des 19. und 20. Jahrhunderts, Wetzlar, 1980, pp. 160-167
Jean-Paul Bouillon, Art Deco 1903-1940, Geneva, 1989, p. 42
Christian Brandstätter, Design der Wiener Werkstätte 1903-1932, Vienna, 2003, p. 48
Der Preis Der Schönheit:  100 Jahre Wiener Werkstätte, exhibition catalogue, MAK, Vienna, 2003, p. 164
Kevin M. Tucker, The Wittgenstein Vitrine: Modern Opulence in Vienna, Dallas, 2015, p. 29

Overall very good original condition. Following the order of the presentation of the drawings on page 10 of the catalogue: (1) Both illustrations with minor handling marks and creases throughout; hinged along the top edge to the mat; and with very minor superficial scratches. Both sheets with irregular edges. (2) The left illustration with scattered pentimenti in lower right quadrant, behind the rectangles and around the flags; with a soft horizontal crease near the top visible edge in the upper right corner; and with minor undulation to the sheet. The right illustration with a soft crease in the upper left quadrant extending from the left visible edge inward. Both illustrations with minor handling marks and creases throughout; and hinged along the top edge to the mat. Both sheets with irregular edges. (3) The left illustration is hinged along the top edge to the mat; with a tiny speck of foxing in the lower margin; and with minor undulation to the sheet. The right illustration is laid down on card and is affixed to the mat window along the edges recto, the left and bottom edges are loose; with a small area of lifting in the gouache in the center of the two upper most helmets; and with minor undulation to the sheet and card. (4) The left illustration with some cracking to the gouache in the lower left margin, not visible in current matting; with pinholes in the lower left corner of margin; and with a small loss in the extreme edge of the lower margin right of center. The right illustration with minor creases mostly in the margins; with pinholes in the lower corners; and with minor undulation to the sheet. Both illustrations with a few stray lines of white pigment within the black pigment and with a few superficial scratches. (5) The left illustration with four pinholes in the lower margin and in the center of the left margin and with a few superficial scratches. The right illustration is partially covered by a second L-shaped sheet that has been laid down on the sheet; this L-shaped sheet runs along the upper horizontal line of the stair, just below the three unpainted figures, and vertically along the outer edge of the decorative column between the right-most unpainted figure and the robed painted figure; there is a small area of lifting to the top sheet along the vertical edge in the center of the image; with pinholes in the lower and left margins; numbered 10 in the lower right corner of the sheet; with a few areas of discoloration and accretion in the lower right and center left portions of the colored figure’s robe, in the lower portion of the left margin, and in the right margin (due to the adhesive of the second sheet). Both sheets with minor undulation. (6) The left illustration with pinholes in the lower left and lower right margins; and with a crease in the lower right margin extending slightly into the lower right of the work. The right illustration with pinholes in the lower and right margins; with slight smudging of the black pigment into the blue pigment in the upper right quadrant; and with a few whitish areas within the blue pigment of the buildings, possibly due to exposure to moisture or possibly inherent in the medium. Both illustrations with a few surface scratches and minor undulation to the sheet. (7) The left illustration with some skinning in the lower right unpainted negative space; with a few stray minor creases in the upper right quadrant in the unpainted negative space. The right illustration with a hard crease in the upper portion of the right hand margin and with very faint creases in the unpainted negative space to the left of the standing figure. Both illustrations with minor superficial scratches within the black pigment and with minor undulation to the sheet. (8) The left illustration with some lifting in the white pigment between the legs of the standing figure second from the right. The right illustration with some lifting to the white pigment in the shield. Both illustrations with minor superficial scratches and minor undulation to the sheet. The portfolio box in original condition. The leather with surface scratches, abrasions and areas of wear throughout consistent with age and handling. The bottom lateral edge with concentrated scratches and wear with losses to the pigment. The edges of the hinged doors with nicks and rubbing with associated losses to the leather. The lower left corner of the left door with a loss to the leather measuring approximately ¾ x ¾ inch. The corners of the box with wear and rubbing. The gilt border with some rubbing, minor losses to the gilt and some areas of discoloration. The interior of the right door with two losses to the leather on the top and bottom edges each measuring approximately ½ inch wide. The silk lining presents with vivid midnight blue coloration and is in good condition. The left flap with some wear on the top edge near the hinge. The underside of the box with rubbing and associated losses to the pigment. The box is lacking its door pulls and feet. An incredibly detailed and refined masterwork by Czeschka, with rich, vivid coloration and graphic lines.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Book design was an important part of the modernist craft community in turn of the century Vienna.  Leporello-bound art books with fine graphic illustrations were published in limited editions and shared within artist circles, and children’s books was another popular genre for which important artists created high-quality illustrations.  In 1901 publisher Martin Gerlach started Gerlachs Jugendbücherei—a young adult book series that answered to the modern principles of art education.  Accordingly, they set out to present their young readership with relevant and enticing content and visuals meant to inspire, educate, and delight.¹  The most skilled artists were commissioned to contribute to the series.

After the first volumes of Gerlachs Jugendbücherei were published in February 1902, original drawings of the illustrations were presented alongside paintings by acclaimed artists like Gustav Klimt at the thirteenth Secessionist exhibition in Vienna, XIII Kunstausstellung der Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreich.²  Even within this fine art context, these small format graphic drawings were regarded as important works of art.

For volume 22, Carl Otto Czeschka (1878-1960) created the artistic highlight of the series: a group of illustrations for Die Nibelungen dem deutschen Volke (The Nibelungs).  His eight magnificent two-sided drawings convey Franz Keim’s abridged version of the heroic medieval epic.  Czeschka’s illustrations, however, transcend the limitations of Keim’s text: augmented by bold geometric borders and modernized blackletter type by Otto Eckmann, they are incredibly visually commanding despite their small scale.  The book cover, endpapers, initials, vignettes and the binding were also designed by Czeschka, culminating in a highly sophisticated total work that was vibrant, lavish and dynamic yet concise.  It is a quintessential representation of the most celebrated tenants of art and design of the period.

During this same time, Czeschka was also engaged with the decoration and the costume designs for Friedrich Hebbels’ tragedy “The Nibelungs”, which he presented at the legendary Viennese Kunstschau 1908.  The impact Czeschka made with his Nibelungs drawings was so profound that they were a source of inspiration for Fritz Lang for his 1924 film adaptation of the epic.

When they were released, Czeschka’s illustrations were received with much excitement and positive response from the community.  The Wiener Werstätte offered framed examples of the illustrations for sale and ordered a large number of books for the Christmas trade in 1908.  For the grand dame of Viennese art criticsm, Berta Zuckerkandl, Czeschka’s illustrations were a “mighty, blooming epoch in surface decoration” and the “purest crystallization of the Wiener Schule.”³  She jubilated: “Equally precious, deep-colored and comparable only to kingly jewellery and glimmering incunabula in proud possession of the Habsburgs are the book decorations which C. O. Czeschka created for The Nibelungs.”⁴

The originals were sold soon after the publication of the book, which was reported by Zuckerkandl in February 1909: “The originals created for the book reproduction are laying in front of us. They have passed in the ownership of a noble, art-minded Viennese house, and just now the Wiener Werkstätte is working on an adorned portfolio that dignifies their beauty.”  This partially gilded leather cassette was executed after the first design by Carl Otto Czeschka from 1906 and was carried out by the bookbinders Carl Beitel and Ludwig Willner as well as the leather worker Paul Ruckendorfer in the Wiener Werkstätte.

In their entirety, Czeschka’s illustrations for The Nibelungs are counted among the most important pieces that have ever been published in the field of book illustration in early 20^th Century Vienna.


—Gerd Pichler, Art historian specializing in early 20th Century Viennese Art, author of the Koloman Moser catalogue raisonnée of paintings


¹ Quoted from Friedrich C. Heller, Die bunte Welt. Handbuch zum künstlerisch illustriertem Kinderbuch in Wien,1890-1938, Vienna, 2008, p. 31
² Katalog der XIII. Kunstausstellung der Vereinigung bildender Künstler Österreichs Secession, Vienna, 1902, nos. 78-84
³ Berta Zuckerkandl, “Die Nibelungen,” Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung, February 6, 1909, no. 9258, pp. 2-3
⁴ Ibid.