Georg scholz studied at the karlsruhe art academy together with karl hubbuch and rudolf schlichter, all three of whom created politically and socially critical art after the shocking experiences of the first world war. In 1919, scholz was one of the founders of the artist group "rih" in karlsruhe, which attracted attention through its nonconformist and provocative lifestyle and expression. He was closely associated with dadaists such as george grosz and john heartfield. In the early 1920s, he began teaching at the baden state art school in karlsruhe. With the change in his art towards a reduced formal language and a return to craftsmanship, he was one of the painters of the new objectivity movement. In 1937, many of his works were defamed as "degenerate" and removed from public collections, including the karlsruhe art gallery. The painting shows, in an extremely concentrated depiction, a corner of a room with a simple table in an oblique view, on which stands a plaster bust and next to it a living nude model sits on a cushion. The bust is facing the model from the side. Both are shown in three-quarter view, the headpiece from its right side, the kneepiece from its left. The group is brought so close to the viewer that the legs of the model and the table are cut off by the lower edge of the picture. The plaster bust can be identified as the so-called brunn woman's head, which goes back to a greek sculpture from the 4th century bc. The nude model, a young woman, has a fashionable short hairstyle from the 1920s, the so-called bob, and is completely naked except for long black silk stockings. She has placed her hands on the table at her side, holds her unprotected upper body almost completely straight, has crossed her right leg over her left and is staring straight ahead. At first glance, the contrast between the pale materiality of the large antique female bust and the warm-toned fleshiness of the living nude model is striking. But then characteristics can be identified that connect the two or bring them into a silent dialogue. Both have the table as a common base. They do not look at the viewer, the empty gaze of the plaster head is directed downwards, internalized, the equally empty gaze of the nude model is directed into the distance. Both are or appear to be torsos, the figure of the bust is reduced to the cleavage, whereas almost the whole body of the model is visible, but the legs appear shortened by the long black stockings against the dark background. The surfaces of the plaster and skin are rendered in a very similarly smooth and unnaturally intact manner. The plaster bust seems to have the task of using contrast to further emphasize the liveliness and physicality of the nude model and to hand over its function as a study object to the living model. The model has taken on the empty gaze, the controlled pose, the smooth surface of the sculpture, but in contrast to it, it has raised its head and no longer conceals its physicality. Both, the plaster bust and the apparently living model, are characterized by the fact that they are self-confident in their own right, with their respective hairstyles typical of the time, available for their time and for art. They are both individualized and representative female figures. Ultimately, both have the fictional character, the imitation, in common; the plaster head and the living model are paintings. And yet the two objects do not appear to be of equal value; the position is taken for the central, space-taking, lifelike nude figure. The modern present seems to have taken over the role of antiquity as a benchmark for contemporary art. [1]. Object Type: painting. Date: 1927. Dimensions: height: 65.5 cm (25.7 in) ; width: 55 cm (21.6 in). Medium: oil on canvas. Collection: Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe. Georg Scholz - Weiblicher Akt mit Gipskopf - 2799 - Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
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