(Vienna 1829-1885)
The Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus, sketch, oil on canvas, 51.5 x 42 cm, framed, (KN)

Provenance:
Private Collection Vienna.

Cited in:
Skizzen - Entwürfe - Dokumente, exhibition catalogue 59, temporary exhibition, Österreichische Galerie in Vienna. Upper Belvedere - 16 April to 4 September 1966, p. 46, no. 75; Franz Josef Drewes, Hans Canon (1829-1885). Werkverzeichnis und Monographie, vol. I, Hildesheim/Zurich/New York 1994, p. 461, no. 281. a.

The present lot is an oil sketch, previously considered lost, for an altarpiece depicting the Martyrdom of St. Hippolytus. Hans Canon probably designed it on behalf of Count Wilczek for the parish church of St. Hippolytus in Harmannsdorf, where the family vault of the Counts Wilczek is also located. The large-format altarpiece was never executed, but other drafts have been preserved in the Belvedere collection (inventory no. 5225) and in the Wien Museum (inventory no. 75654). Compositionally, this version stands between the still very fleeting, summary sketch in the Wien Museum and the more complete, mirrored version in the Belvedere. Canon’s special use of quick, sweeping brushstrokes is characteristically pronounced here and lends the present lot its particular charm. (KN)