August Gaber, “Death as the Winner”, 1848, after Alfred Rethel

August Gaber (1823 –1891)

“Death as the Winner” (or “Der Tod als Sieger” or "Death Leaving the City as a Hero"), 1848

Technical Details & Condition:

Woodcut (wood-engraving) printed in black on heavy buff wove paper. This is the sixth and final plate, lettered above the image as “Sechstes Blatt” (Sixth Sheet), from the series “Auch ein Todtentanz” (or “This, too, is a Dance of Death”). The edition was published in Leipzig in 1849 by Georg Wigand (1818–1858).

The series revisits the medieval “Danse Macabre” tradition—where skeletons interact with the living to reflect on mortality (memento mori)—but recontextualises it within the German Revolutions of 1848–49.

In this climactic scene, Death is portrayed as a mock hero. Crowned with laurel and holding a white flag attached to his scythe, he rides a horse over a barricade of fallen revolutionaries. A chilling detail: the horse licks the wound of a dead insurgent, emphasizing the cold, unfeeling nature of the “liberty” found in death. The series serves as a conservative, counter-revolutionary warning that radical upheaval only leads to the grave. 

The design of this print, along with the others in the series, is based on drawings by Alfred Rethel (1816–1859), with intermediary design work by Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürkner (1818–1897). The verses below the image are by Robert Reinick (1805–1852). 

The impression is strong and well-printed. Aside from minor bumps to the lower corners, the sheet is in near pristine condition, free of tears, holes, abrasions, or stains.

Dimensions:

• Sheet: 28.2 x 42 cm
• Platemark: 22.3 x 31.8 cm

Lettering:

• Above image borderline at centre: “Sechstes Blatt.”
• Within the image borderline at lower right: “GABER sc.”
• Below the image borderline in four columns of two lines: “Der sie geführt — es war der Tod! / Er hat gehalten, was er bot. // Die ihm gefolgt, sie liegen bleich / Als Brüder alle, frei und gleich. — // Seht hin die Maske that er fort; / Als Sieger, hoch zu Rosse dort, / zieht, der Verwesung hohn im Blick, / Der held der rothen Republik.”

(Translation: “He who led them—it was Death! He kept his promise. Those who followed him lie pale, all brothers, free and equal. Look, he removed the mask; as victor, high on horseback, there, with the scorn of decay in his eyes, rides the hero of the Red Republic.”)

References:

• Adriani 99 (Gert Adriani, “Alfred Rethel: Auch ein Totentanz: Todesdarstellungen von 1828 bis 1852”, 1956, Düsseldorf, p. 29, cat. no. 99).
• Rijksmuseum: https://id.rijksmuseum.nl/200137057
• National Galleries of Scotland: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/155965/dance-death-auch-ein-todtentanz-death-winner   
• British Museum (series): https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1977-U-11-1-6

Price & Shipping:

AU$288 (approximately US$206.50 / €175.96 / £152.51), including worldwide express shipping. Import duties (if any) are the buyer’s responsibility.

If you wish to purchase this exceptionally executed and startlingly memorable woodcut, based on a design by Alfred Rethel, please contact me at oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com. I will provide a PayPal invoice to ensure a secure and easy transaction.

This print has been sold

August Gaber’s wood engraving, “Death on Horseback Approaching a City”, 1848, after Alfred Rethel

August Gaber (1823 –1891)

“Death on Horseback Approaching a City”, 1848, the second plate (“Zweites Blatt” or second sheet) from the series, “Auch ein Todtentanz” (aka “This, too, is a Dance of Death”), showing scenes depicting the dance of death in the context of the German Revolutions of 1848-49, after drawings by Alfred Rethel (1816–1859) and following the intermediary design by Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürkner (aka Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürckner) (1818–1897), with verses by Robert Reinick (1805–1852), published in Leipzig by Georg Wigand (1818–1858).

Wood engraving printed in black and a beige tone block on wove paper. The verso has a round violet ink-stamp of the art collector and postal inspector, Kasimir Hagen (1887–1965), featuring the Madonna and Child bordered with the lettering “KUNSTSAMMLUNG KASIMIR HAGEN^.KOELN^.” (see http://www.kunst-und-kultur.de/index.php?Action=showCollector&cId=999), slightly shining through to the image (recto).

Size: (sheet) 29 x 41 cm; (image borderline) 22.3 x 32.4 cm.

Lettered above the image borderline: “Zweites Blatt.”

Lettered below the image borderline in four columns: “Der Morgen schaut vom himmelszelt/ So klar wie sonst auf Stadt und Feld;// Da trabt mit wilder hast heran/ Der Freund des Volks, der Sensenmann./ Zur Stadt lenkt seinen Gaul er hin,// Schon ahnt er reiche Ernte drin./ Die hahnenfeder auf dem hut/ Glüht in der Sonne roth wie Blut,// Die Sense blitzt wie Wetterschein,/ Es stöhnt der Gaul, die Raben schrei'n!” ([Google transl.] “The morning looks from the heavenly tent/ As clear as usual on town and field;// There trots up wildly/ The friend of the people, the Grim Reaper./ He steers his horse towards the town,// He already senses a rich harvest there./ The rooster's feather on the hat/ Glows red in the sun like blood,// The scythe flashes like weather,/ The horse moans, the ravens scream!”)

Adriani 99 (Gert Adriani 1956, “Alfred Rethel: Auch ein Totentanz: Todesdarstellungen von 1828 bis 1852”, Düsseldorf, p. 29, cat.no. 99).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print from the People's Edition of Augustus: (transl.) “Allegory of the Revolution in the German Lands of 1848: ‘Ein Totentanz aus dem Jahre 1848’" (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.48251).

See also the description of the folio of engravings offered by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1977-U-11-1-6.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression with full margins as published. There is darkening to the margins of the sheet and a pale stain of the collector’s stamp (Kasimir Hagen) printed verso is visible in the image; otherwise, there are no tears, holes, folds, or foxing.

I am selling this large wood-engraving that is the second plate in a macabre series of prints presenting a nineteenth century twist to the famous “Dance of Death” allegory—here the skeletal personification of Death holding a scythe and the scales of judgement rides a horse past scattering farm folk on a road leading to a walled city during the German revolution of 1848/9 (I suspect that the city may be Cologne with the twin spires of the Cathedral St. Peter?)—for the total cost of AU$224 (currently US$149.72/EUR135.47/GBP119.25 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this visually arresting engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Gustav Richard Steinbrecher’s wood engraving, “Death Throwing his Sword to the People, Provoking an Uprising”, 1848, after Alfred Rethel

Gustav Richard Steinbrecher (1828–fl. 1848)

“Death Throwing his Sword to the People, Provoking an Uprising” (aka “Viertes Blatt”; “Fourth Sheet: Death as Hero of the Revolution Passing his Sword to the People”), 1848, the fourth plate from the series of six wood engravings, “Auch ein Todtentanz” (aka “This, too, is a Dance of Death”), showing scenes depicting the dance of death in the context of the German Revolutions of 1848-49, after drawings by Alfred Rethel (1816–1859) and following the intermediary design by Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürkner (aka Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürckner) (1818–1897), with verses by Robert Reinick (1805–1852), published in Leipzig by Georg Wigand (1818–1858).

Wood engraving printed in black with a buff tonal plate on wove paper, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (support sheet) 45.4 x 53.8 cm; (sheet) 29.7.8 x 39.3 cm; (image borderline) 22.5 x 32.2 cm.

Lettered above the image borderline: “Viertes Blatt.”

Lettered within the image borderline: (on sword) “VOLKS IUSTIZ” (People’s Justice); (lower centre on wooden platform edge) “St”.

Lettered below the image borderline in nine columns of German text “,Freiheit, Gleichheit und Brudersinn!‘/ Der Schrei wälzt durch die Stadt sich hin./ ,Zum Rathhaus!‘ – Horch! der Steinwurf saust.// ,Hoch Republik!" – die Flamme braust. –/ ,Zum Markt! zum Markt! Da steht er schon/ ,Der Held der Revolution!/ ,Hört Ihn!‘ – – Stumm Alles wie ein Grab.// Er aber reicht ein Schwerdt herab ./ Und hält es allem Volk bereit –/ Die List nahm's der Gerechtigkeit –/ Er schreit: ,Du Volk! dies Schwerdt ist dein!// ,Wer sonst kann richten? du allein!/ ,Durch dich spricht Gott! durch dich allein!‘/ ,,Blut! Blut!‘‘ viel tausend Kehlen schrei'n.”

([Google translate] “'Freedom, equality and brotherly spirit!'/ The scream rolls through the city./ 'To the town hall!' - Hark! the stone is thrown. // 'Hail republic!' – the flame roars. –/ 'To the market! to the market! There he is already/ ,The hero of the revolution!/ 'Hear him!' – – Silent everything like a grave. // But he hands down a sword./ And keeps it ready for all the people –/ Justice took it by cunning –/ He cries out: 'You people! This sword is yours!// ,Who else can judge? You alone!/ ,God speaks through you! Through you alone!'/ "Blood! Blood!'' many thousand throats scream.")

Welcome Collection offers a description of this print: https://wellcomecollection.org/works/jj2387ap.

See also the description of the folio of engravings offered by the British Museum. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1977-U-11-1-6.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper providing wide margins. There is a restored/supported tear in the upper margin along with handling marks, otherwise the sheet is in a very good condition with no significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this large engraving which is the fourth plate in a macabre series of prints presenting a nineteenth century twist to the famous “Dance of Death” allegory—here the skeletal personification of Death offers a sword to insurgents during the German revolution of 1848/9 as a grim foreboding that they may perish in their fight (my apologies if I am wrong about this)—for the total cost of AU$224 (currently US$144.43/EUR147.15/GBP128.89 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this visually arresting and historically important wood engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

August Gaber’s wood engraving, “Victorious Death”, 1848, after Alfred Rethel

 

August Gaber (1823 –1891)

“Victorious Death” (aka “Sechstes Blatt”; “Sixth Sheet: Death on Horseback Leaving the City as a Hero”), 1848, the sixth and final plate from the series, “Auch ein Todtentanz” (aka “This, too, is a Dance of Death”), showing scenes depicting the dance of death in the context of the German Revolutions of 1848-49, after drawings by Alfred Rethel (1816–1859) and following the intermediary design by Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürkner (aka Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürckner) (1818–1897), with verses by Robert Reinick (1805–1852), published in Leipzig by Georg Wigand (1818–1858).

Wood engraving printed in black with a buff tonal plate on wove paper, backed with a support sheet.

Size: (support sheet) 67.8 x 51.8 cm; (sheet) 51.8 x 38.2 cm; (image borderline) 45.6 x 37 cm.

Lettered above the image borderline: “Sechstes Blatt.”

Lettered within the image borderline: (lower right) “GABER SC.”

Lettered below the image borderline in nine columns of two lines: “Der sie geführt — es war der God! ... Der Held der rothen Republik.”

Adriani 99 (Gert Adriani 1956, “Alfred Rethel: Auch ein Totentanz: Todesdarstellungen von 1828 bis 1852”, Düsseldorf, p. 29, cat.no. 99).

The Rijksmuseum offers the following description of this print from the People's Edition of Augustus: (transl.) “Allegory of the Revolution in the German Lands of 1848: ‘Ein Totentanz aus dem Jahre 1848’" (http://hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.48255).

See also the description of the folio of engravings offered by the British Museum: https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/P_1977-U-11-1-6.

Condition: a strong and well-printed impression laid upon an archival support sheet of millennium quality washi paper providing wide margins. There is a restored/supported tear in the upper margin along with handling marks, otherwise the sheet is in a very good condition with no significant stains or foxing.

I am selling this large engraving which is the final plate in a macabre series of prints presenting a nineteenth century twist to the famous “Dance of Death” allegory—here the skeletal personification of Death crowned with laurel leaves and holding a blank flag rides a horse that has lurched forward to lick the blood from a fallen insurgent during the German revolution of 1848/9—for the total cost of AU$224 (currently US$149.89/EUR150.19/GBP131.46 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world, but not (of course) any import duties/taxes imposed by some countries.

If you are interested in purchasing this visually arresting engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold 

Alfred Rethel’s pair of wood-engravings, “Death the Friend” and “Death the Avenger”, 1851

Alfred Rethel (1816–1859)

“Der Tod als Freund” (Death the Friend), 1851, published by Julius Buddeus (fl.1830s–52) and Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürkner (1818–97), block cut by Richard Julius Jungtow (1828–[after]1851), printed by Breitkopf and Härtel (fl.1719–1897).

Wood-engraving on wove paper

Size: (sheet) 50.8 x 37.9 cm; (image borderline) 30.5 x 27.5 cm

Lettered within image with artist's initials and “J. Jungtow”, below the image, with title, production and publication details: “Herausgegeben aus der Akademie der Holzschneidekunst von H. Bürkner in Dresden” and “Erschienen bei Ed. Schulte (J.Buddeus'sche Buch- und Kunsthandl. in Düsseldorf.” and “Druck von Breitkopf und Härtel in Leipzig”.

Manteuffel 1926 25 (iib) (Kurt Zoege von Manteuffel 1926, “Alfred Rethel ... mit einem ... kritischen Verzeichnis der Bilddrucke”, Hamburg)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“Death tolling the church bells for the aged man seated on the right; stairs to left; view into the distance with setting sun in the background. 1851 Wood-engraving”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1446263&partId=1&searchText=Rethel&page=1)

The curator of the BM also offers the following comment:

“Edward Burne-Jones greatly admired Rethel and wanted to produce '100.000 woodcuts as big as "Death the Friend" or bigger, (G.Burne-Jones, vol I, London, 1993, p. 255) cf Bartrum: 'Dürer and his Legacy', 2002, cat. 273”

Condition: well-printed impression with full margins (as published) in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing, nevertheless, there is a dot-like mark that is visible in the margin at upper right but I suspect that this may be a natural flaw in the paper rather than a stain).

I am selling this famous wood-engraving along with “Death the Avenger” for the combined total cost of AU$400 for the pair of prints (currently US$313.50/EUR262.43/GBP232.22 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested these masterpieces of wood-engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Both prints have been sold

Images of death are often fraught with the macabre figure of the grim reaper with his hideous scythe causing havoc among mere mortals. This superb wood engraving, however, is very different. It reveals a rare serene scene of the imminent death of an elderly gentleman resting in an armchair near a window overlooking the setting sun as the figure of death—this time without his scythe—marks the gentleman’s passing by ringing a bell announcing his final evening prayer.

Alfred Rethel (1816–1859)

Der Tod als Erwürger - Erster Auftritt der Cholera auf einem Maskenball in Paris 1831” (Death the Strangler/Avenger—The first outbreak of cholera at a masked ball in Paris 1831), 1851, published by Julius Buddeus (fl.1830s–52) and Hugo Leopold Friedrich Heinrich Bürkner (1818–97), block cut by Gustav Richard Steinbrecher (fl.1828–48).

Wood-engraving on wove paper

Size: (sheet) 50.8 x 37.5 cm; (image borderline) 31.2 x 27.6 cm

Lettered with title, production and publication details: “Herausgegeben aus der Akademie der Holzschneidekunst von H. Bürkner in Dresden” and “Erschienen bei Ed. Schulte (J.Buddeus'sche Buch- und Kunsthandl. in Düsseldorf.” and “Druck von Breitkopf und Härtel in Leipzig”.

Manteuffel 1926 24.III (Kurt Zoege von Manteuffel 1926, “Alfred Rethel ... mit einem ... kritischen Verzeichnis der Bilddrucke”, Hamburg)

The British Museum offers the following description of this print:

“In the centre, Death personified, holding two bones as if he was playing the violin; surrounding him, the bodies of three dead people lying on the floor; in the top left corner, a group of musicians leaving the room; in the background to right; Cholera personified, dressed in Egyptian fancy dress seated on stairs. 1851 Wood-engraving”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1446226&partId=1&searchText=Rethel&page=1)

Condition: well-printed impression with full margins (as published) in excellent condition (i.e. there are no tears, holes, folds, abrasions, significant stains or foxing, nevertheless, there is a small scattering of dot staining that is visible verso).

I am selling this famous wood-engraving along with “Death the Friend” for the combined total cost of AU$400 for the pair of prints (currently US$313.50/EUR262.43/GBP232.22 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested these masterpieces of wood-engraving, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

Unlike the previous print, "Death the Friend", the image here fits more with the tradition of showing the havoc reaped by the grim figure of death. As the inscribed title of the print advises, the subject of the image is about the first outbreak of cholera in Paris at a masked ball in 1831. Although the figure of death is portrayed as a somewhat sensitive violinist playing bones instead of a violin, to my eyes, the full horror of the scene is evoked by the juxtaposition of this figure’s calm elegance—note the graceful, perhaps even sexy, Beyoncé-like position of the forward foot—set against the turmoil of the distressed fleeing guests.

Regarding Rethel’s choice of subject in this and the previous print, the curator of the British Museum offers the following insightful comment:

“The influence of sixteenth-century images of death on Rethel is demonstrated in these two prints `Death the Strangler` and its companion, `Death the Friend` (cat.no 273). The most obvious source being the series of 41 woodcuts of the Dance of Death of 1538 designed by Holbein the Younger. But Rethel`s interpretation of Death as an overwhelmingly menacing force which dominates the entire composition derives ultimately from Dürer, whose radical image of a destructive power sweeping away all in its path in ` The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse` had a pervasive influence ( cat.no 271).”

(http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=1446226&partId=1&people=21466&peoA=21466-2-61&page=1)