 | 
| Our Unrefined Side |
|---|
| Artist: | Heinrich Kley |
| Date: | 1910-1920 |
| Medium: | Watercolor & Graphite on Artists Paper |
| Dimensions: | Sight Size 10" X 14" |
| Condition: | Excellent |
| Original Use: | Fine Art or possible Illustration Plate |
| Price: | S O L D |
 |
| Above: Detail |
 |
| Above: The assorted cast |
 |
| Above: Detail |
A whimsical and dazzling watercolor by Heinrich Kley titled "Siche Rude Seiten;" loosely translated, "Our Unrefined Side". A splendid cast of characters assembled by this fondly remembered avant-garde, Jugendstil, German Expressionist artist. This is a rare full color example of the artist's work, most surviving pieces by Kley are pen & ink drawings. This evocative painting is rich in humor, technique and imagery.
Heinrich Kley is best remembered today for satirical, despairing, and often obscene images which evinced a maniacal distrust of the industrial revolution and its autonomized society. In 1907, a series of remarkable pen & ink drawings appeared in the Munich German Expressionist literary art magazine Die Jugend that captured the growing disillusionment of fin-de-siecle German counter-culture. Kley's scathing and deftly rendered creations resonated with audiences and Kley became a leading interpreter of the follies and vices that beset mankind. Kley's art appeared in the United States in 1937 and caught the eye of Walt Disney & Sketch Artists at the Disney studio, including Albert Hurter, Joe Grant and James Bodrero. Hurter introduced Kley's work to the Disney Studio and Walt Disney accumulated a collection of the artist's work. The images in Kley's art inspired a number of animated sequences and characters, including Night on Bald Mountain and the dancing animals of Dance of the Hours in Fantasia.
 |
| Above: The unrefined nude |
In 1947 the "Drawings of Heinrich Kley" was published with a forward by George Grosz. Of Kley, Grosz wrote: "Kley used the pen like the lariat of a temperamental cowboy [and] is great draftsman of animals. Like Walt Disney he humanizes the beasts [...]I am sure that the drawings of Heinrich Kley will be remembered and enjoyed as long as human beings retain the ability to laugh at themselves."
 |
| Above: Framed in period wood enameled antique frame |
 |
| Above: corner notations |
 |
| Above: Title by Artist "Siche Rude Seiten" or "Our Unrefined Side" |
Work is archivally matted and framed in a handsome antique wood frame. There is a pen and ink drawing on the verso with text and German captions and notations as seen.
 |
| Above: Verso pen & ink rendering |
 |
| Above: Verso notations and pen& ink work on sheet |
Search for more art by Heinrich Kley
| 
 | 
 |
