Passionate plea, cool dispassion. Bruckner, Berg, Sisi: Autograph Auction at the Vienna Dorotheum

Alban Berg, self portrait

The typical fate of an artist: the undersigned deplores the demands having to earn a living places on him and regrets that he has so little time for creative work. That the artist in question is none less than the famous composer Anton Bruckner becomes evident from the perusal of his original letters of request for financial support. These together with other documents important to the history of medicine, music, the military, and the humanities in general will come up for auction at the Vienna Dorotheum, during the Autograph Auction to be held on 6th December 2007.

The Dorotheum is able to offer two letters by Anton Bruckner dating to 1873: His four-page, autobiographical letter to His Excellency cites his various achievements and goes on to point out that his lack of a permanent position and the consequent need to rely on piece work for his income had begun to "stifle his creative work". A second extensive petition by the artist is addressed to the Austrian Imperial Assembly (Reichsrat) with a request for a lifetime annuity. The two autographs will come up for auction at 4.000 Euro each..

Alban Berg's modernist and objective approach as a music theorist informs a letter of major significance written by the composer in 1914. Writing to a friend with regard to his Guide to the Music of Schönberg und Wagner he explains: "Rather, I sought to address various musical subjects etc. with cool dispassion and without all lyricism and psychology." (€ 5.000). A pen drawing, a self portrait by Berg's hand, is offered for 1.500 Euro.

With a starting bid of 20.000 Euro, a wealth of source material on the history of Emperor Joseph II (1741 - 1790) represents the most highly valued lot of this auction. Over 120 pages long, much of it made up of the Emperor's autograph correspondence with a prince, the material covers politics, military matters as well as private concerns and travel related subjects.

The imperial category would not be complete without news from Sisi, the popular Empress of Austria. In a private letter to Archduchess Margarethe, wife of one of Emperor Franz Joseph's brothers, the Empress thanks her for her kind wishes for her name day. Aside from some classified gossip about the imperial family, this autograph also contains a promise by the 20-year old Empress Elisabeth to make a donation to a planned orphanage for girls. (€ 4.000).

Among many other famous names, the autograph auction for example also features items by Sir Karl Popper or Wilhelm Furtwängler.

	Alban Berg, self portrait
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