The Fantastic ''Character Heads'' of Franz Xaver Messerschmidt

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt was a German-Austrian sculptor. Born in Swabia in 1736, grew up in Munich in the house of his uncle, sculptor Johann Baptista Straub. From 1755, he was a student at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. After completing his studies at the Academy, Messerschmidt remained in Vienna, fulfilling the orders of the imperial house, - some of these statues, executed in a baroque manner, are preserved. The turning point in the work of Messerschmidt comes around 1769 - partly under the influence of a trip to Rome a little earlier. Messerschmidt begins to create his so-called “character heads” ( "Charakterköpfe" ) - busts with very bizarre, distorted, convulsive facial expressions.
The sculptor himself called them only "heads". This is a series of around 52 self-portrait busts in alabaster, sometimes preserved only as plaster casts or known through photographs and lithographs.

Lithograph by Matthias Rudolph Toma depicting Messerschmidt’s “Character Heads”, Image Source

'' Second Beaked Head '', Alabaster, Image Source

Shown are all kinds of physiognomic states (affects) - up to extreme grimaces. It is well known that Messerschmidt made many own studies with the mirror, mimicking facial features that then he would translate into his sculpture. But he also did not shrink from more drastic measures: So he jumped in front of passers-by, held out a gun and studied the horror in the face of those affected. The doctrine of the animal magnetism of his friend and physician Franz Anton Mesmer was incorporated into both his sculptures and his imagination.

'' The Yawner '', Image Source

'' A Hypocrite and a Slanderer '', Tin alloy, Image Source

The busts, which fascinate with their grotesque, ambiguous and irritating facial expressions, reflect the newly formulated ideals of the art of the Enlightenment of the late 18th century. The widespread view that Messerschmidt had suffered from a mental illness has no basis and can not be proved by sources.
On January 28, 2005, one of the “heads” was sold at Sotheby’s auction for a record amount of 4,800,000 US dollars and purchased for the Louvre collection

'' A Mischievous Wag '', Image Source



FineArtNow is a new place for Artists and Art-Lovers on Steemit.
The Idea of this blog is to bring creative people and art enthusiasts together and to increase the reach of Steemit - Artists !
Many Thanks for Your upvotes , comments and resteems ! We allways support our friends ! See you soon !