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• Auction House:
  W T Macalister
• Sale Name:
  40 Years of Leo Bensemann
• Sale Date:
  28 Mar 2012 ~ 6:30pm (NZDT)
• Lot #:
  14
• Lot Description:
  Leo Bensemann
  (1912-1986)
  From the 1930s Bensemann had admired the encaustic (wax) paintings known as fayum or mummy portraits, dating from the period of Roman occupation of Eg
  Oil On board
  605 x 425mm
  Signed and dated '72
• References:
  The other imaginary portraits were Unknown Nürnberg and Unknown Frankfurt/Main (both 1971); see Otto, Portraits, p. 101-02
• Notes:
  From the 1930s Bensemann had admired the encaustic (wax) paintings known as fayum or mummy portraits, dating from the period of Roman occupation of Egypt, around 100BC. These small portraits on wooden panels were attached to the heads of mummified bodies before burial. Bensemann was excited to discover some examples in Germany, as he wrote in a letter to his wife Mary from Würzburg: 'There is a very big collection of Greek, Etruscan and Roman work in the Residenz, beautifully displayed in big, white vaulted rooms. I came across another Egyptian portrait of a young woman done in wood - a wax painting which looks exactly like oil. I couldn't go past it. The colour is brilliant and in perfect condition and this and the one I saw in München [Munich] are two of the finest and most moving paintings I have ever seen'. Back in New Zealand, Bensemann made a painting inspired by this wax mummy painting. He wrote to Caroline: 'Do you remember the Egyptian painting of the girl that we saw in the Residenz at Würzburg? This is her sister and I exhibited it unfinished in the Group Show [1972] recently and gave it the title The Egyptian Girl whose sister lives in Würzburg - which pleased me in a funny sort of way...' The origins of the painting in Egyptian funerary art are suggested by the coffin shape with which the figure is framed. Bensemann has made no attempt to copy the original work (a postcard of which he sent to his wife), though he has reproduced the strong colouring of the original (especially in the brilliant orange background) and has attempted to replicate an archaic physiognomy in the distinctive features of the woman with her dark, tied-back hair, striking eyes, tiny mouth and elongated neck.
• Estimate:
  NZ$9,000 - 11,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Art

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.