$116,550
Estimate: $20,000 - $30,000
Auction: May 11, 2021 12:00:00 PM EDT
1960, signed on base, from the edition of six. Bronze with brown patina.
height: 18 1/8 in. (46cm)
width: 28 1/4 in. (71.8cm)
depth: 5 1/2 in. (14cm)
Provenance
The Stralem Collection.
Literature
Dietrich Clarenbach, Fritz Koenig: Skulpturen Werkverzeichnis, Munich: Hirmer Verlag, 2003, no. 241 (another cast illustrated).
Note
We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Dietrich Clarenbach for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.
A sculptor of great international renown, Fritz König may be best known in the United States as the creator of the Große Kugelkaryatide, a monumental sculpture at the World Trade Center in New York that withstood the attacks of September 11, 2001 and now stands as a symbol of strength and resiliency. Quadriga 60 comes from a prolific mid-career moment for the artist and exemplifies the balance, energy, and delicacy of his most important work. A quadriga is a chariot pulled by four horses abreast, and here we see the artist playing with this idea, the four horses’ heads protruding, while their delicate legs catch the air, propelling the rider forward. The artist flattens out the form so that from the back, the rider appears to be enveloping the scene in his wide arms, creating compelling contrasts between abstraction and representation, and movement and stasis.