(Bozen 1895–1944 Schwaz) ‘Prova del Concerto-Fagottista I’, 1928, label to the reverse: stamp: Nachlaß Christian Hess, signed by the artist’s niece, oil on canvas, 92 x 73 cm, framed, (K)

Provenance:
From the artist’s estate, Private Ownership
Hess spent his childhood in Bozen, moving with his family to Innsbruck in 1905. He attended the grammar school there and then the vocational school. Following this, he worked in a ceramics works in Pustertal and in the glass painting workshops in Innsbruck. He assisted church painter, Thaler with fresco work. In 1915, Hess exhibited for the first time at the Taxigalerie. In 1916 he had to go to war, studying from 1918 under Prof Becker-Gundhal in Munich. In 1921, thanks to a grant, he arrived in Scandinavia, where he made the acquaintance of Anatole France. Periods of time spent in Florence and Messina. Portrait and fresco commissions in Germany. Took part in touring exhibition of works by Tyrolean artists in Germany. In 1929 he joined the ‘Juryfreien‘ group of artists, and enjoyed the friendship of Max Beckmann. In 1933 the ‘Juryfreien‘ group was dissolved. From then on lived in Sicily and Switzerland, and from 1941 in the Tyrol again. In 1944, Hess was badly injured in a bomb attack in Innsbruck, and he died some weeks later in Schwaz.