Resting Diana by Franz Hagenauer, 1955

Resting Diana, design by Franz Hagenauer, manufactured by Werkstatte Hagenauer Vienna, ca. 1955, maple and cherry wood, brass, marked Mythological figures allowed artists to depict female beauty undisguised. A well-known example in European art history is the theme of the “Resting Venus”. The two Hagenauer brothers Karl and Franz also paid homage to female beauty in their famous nudes, and thus, a “Reclining Venus” can be found as early as the early 1930s, resting on a canapé and coquettishly contemplating herself in a hand mirror. On our figurine of the Resting Diana, however, a tree becomes a resting tool. Only hinting at foliage, a branch literally nestles against the nude and in its curved shape becomes an elegant chaise-longue on which our goddess rests gracefully. Franz Hagenauer designed “Diana” in 1956, but in style it still breathes the spirit of Art Déco. Bare of her characteristic attributes, he captures the goddess of the hunt in an elegant pose, almost as if she were resting under a treetop after her work is done. Reduced to only a few set pieces, he masterfully stages the beauty in a setting in which nature and man merge in grace. marked with “wHw” in the circle, “MADE IN/AUSTRIA”, “HAGENAUER/WIEN” and “Handmade” bib.: Hagenauer Archive at MAK Vienna, mod.no. 9815, sample book 5