Character study, act

Carl Anton Reichel depicted a young female dancer at a performance during a modern dance. The woman is holding a bow and a ring in her hand. She is speaking, turning her head towards an invisible scene partner. The attributes in her hands indicate that the story concerns a tournament game where the knights aimed their bow at the ring. The figure was sketchily depicted with a precise contour line. Reichel artistically depicted only the dancer's head.The graphic, made in 1917 using dry point technique, was printed on thick handmade paper and published in a folder of the Verlag der Gesellschaft für vervielfältigende Kunst in Vienna for the year 1919. The composition Tänzerin is an example of the realistic trend of Reichel's work. It testifies to high workshop skills and a sense of form. The artist did not succumb to the then tendencies to avoid idealisation and simplification of motifs derived from the heritage of antiquity. He took the motif from modernity but skilfully breathed the ancient spirit into it. The Austrian Carl Anton Reichel was born in Wels in 1874 and died in Vienna in 1944. He was a graphic artist, draughtsman and illustrator. He acquired a multi-faceted education, studying medicine in Vienna, Munich and Prague between 1894 and 1901 and psychology, art history and knowledge of India. Moreover, he deepened his artistic education in Paris, at the Julian Academy and in Munich, learning the secrets of graphic techniques - woodcut and etching. He was interested in Buddhism, Far Eastern philosophy, hypnosis, spiritualism, cosmology. These interests were reflected in his works. He worked for a while at the Bürgelstein Castle near Salzburg, maintaining contact with representatives of art and culture, including the innovative composer Arnold Schönberg and the Expressionist Alfred Kubin. From 1917 to 1924, he ran his salon in Kremstal.

Ewa Gwiazdowska