(Vienna 1947–2012) Series: “Die Werdung des Seienden”, a series of 5 works, each sheet signed, dated F West 72, all sheets numbered by the artist on the reverse (determining sequence), titled on reverse of sheet 1: Serie: “Die Werdung des Seienden”, 2 sheets, gouache on paper, 3 sheets, gouache, felt pen on paper, one with gold paint, each approx. 15 x 21 cm, framed, (5) (K)

Registered:
Franz West Privatstiftung Archiv, Vienna

Provenance:
Private Ownership, Vienna - directly from the artist See: Franz West, Proforma, Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna, 1996, pages 123 124 125 128 129

From the very beginning, West’s works are very personal and highly original in character, even where, especially in his very first drawings and watercolours, he unmistakably adopts those artistic styles with which he was confronted during his frequent visits to his friend Fred Jellinek, then working at the Galerie Scheer. Amongst these sheets one sees ornamentation and colouring reminiscent of Viennese Jugendstil or of Hundertwasser, as well as the fantastic-surreal atmosphere and mannered gestures of the Wiener Phanstasten, and faces with the “surrealist beards” typical of Dali or Leherb. However, essentially such borrowings are neither stylistic takeovers nor altercations with trendsetting ideals; instead they are far more ironic commentaries on the images he encountered, interpreted in a very personal manner. A distanced and ironic reaction to the artistic formulations of others, in particular to those propounded with such vehemence and dogmatism, would remain a key force behind West’s visual output.
It is worth emphasising West’s approach to human physiognomy, if only in view of how his work developed. In most cases the faces are impersonal and mask-like, in accordance with the cool character of these works….. Many formal as well as contextual characteristics of West’s oeuvre, which later crystallised out as the fundamentals or trends in his development, already appeared in nuanced form in his earliest works. His thematizing of the succinct “how-one-feels-in-particular-situations” which was so typical of his early works would be a constant throughout his work, as was his preoccupation with illusions and longings - the surroundings. …Eva Badura-Triska - from the above Literature.