Karl Duldig carved this marble sculpture of a mask in the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in 1921. His teacher, Anton Hanak, the Professor of Sculpture at the School, encouraged him to carve directly into the stone. It was an accomplished work for the 19 year-old student and was selected by Hanak to represent the students of the School at the Deutschen Gewerbeschau (German Applied Art exhibition) in Munich in 1922, an early accolade for the young artist. The sculpture and another Kneeling Nude were reproduced in the journal Deustche Kunst and Dekoration in 1923-24 in an article on the Hanak-Klasse. In 2011 Mask was exhibited in the National Gallery of Victoria exhibition Vienna: Art and Design. The sculpture is one of ten substantial sculptures in marble and stone, and a larger group terracotta sculptures and masks, portrait busts and small stone sculptures created by Karl Duldig in Vienna that are held in the Museum collection. These art works are complemented by an archive of contemporary documents including letters, photographs, documents and ephemera. In 1938 Duldig’s Viennese sculptures were sent to Paris in 1938 for a proposed exhibition, and were hidden in Paris by Slawa Duldig’s sister Rella, throughout the Second World War, and arrived in Australia post-war over 5 decades. Karl Duldig was a student of the Kunstgewerbeschule from 1921 until 1925, and then attended the Akademie Der Bildenden Künste (Academy of Fine Arts) from 1929 until 1933. He was accepted into the Professor Josef Mullner’s “Meisterschule” at the Academy of Fine Arts from 1929 until 1933. His teacher at the Kunstgwerebeschule was Austria’s foremost contemporary sculptor Anton Hanak, and he was a formative influence on Duldig’s work. Hanak had been a member of Viennese Secession, and worked with Josef Hoffman on architectural commissions prior to the First World War. Hanak shared both his love of the expressive quality of materials and a humanist vision with his students. Various writers have written about Duldig’s interest in masks. His interest may have been stimulated by his classical education, the Greek and Roman antiquities in the Kunsthistoriches Museum in Vienna, or the ethnological collections in Vienna’s Museum of Ethnology (now known as the Weltmuseum). The mask was a motif explored by expressionist and cubist artists whose work was exhibited at the Vienna Secession. Duldig would have been familiar with the psychological investigations of the neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud, who established his practice in Vienna. In the Duldig Studio library, Duldig’s keen interest in the arts of a myriad of visual cultures is apparent. Of particular note are two well-thumbed copies Rudolf Utzinger’s, Masken, published by Ernst Wasmuth in Berlin in 1923, depicting masks from around the world. It is likely that a multitude of influences were at play. Slawa Duldig also worked with this motif, and also carved a smaller mask in Salzburg marble as well as a remarkable mask in clay, and these are held in the collection. Ann Carew 2016The Mask has national and international aesthetic significance. It is one of the earliest works by Karl Duldig in the Studio collection, and is a subject that he would continue to explore throughout his working life. The sculpture demonstrates a high degree of technical skill and mastery at an early age. It is evidence of Duldig’s engagement with the art of his peers during this period – the mask is a motif that inspired contemporary expressionist and cubist artists. It also demonstrates his interests in portraiture, human psychology, and the creation of identity and transformation of personalities. The Mask also provides an important link to the studio practice in the Vienna Kunstgwerbeschule, the teaching of Anton Hanak, and the program of international art exhibitions in Europe during the period. It is also of historical significance: the story of its survival and eventual recovery provides a counterpoint to the story of the Nazis’ confiscation of art during the Second World War. Ann Carew 2016Carving in Salzburg Marble. Holes for eyes and mouth cut through the block. Highly polished finish at front contrasting with rough finish at back and stylised curled hair. Marble base separate (75 x 275 x 198, wt 9000) and added later by artist. Karl Duldig 1921 incised on back

The Buddhist monk Guangqia visited Karl Duldig’s studio on two consecutive days, in the company of the noted Chinese writer, Professor Yu Dafu, a friend of Karl’s. Karl made two portraits of the monk, the first depicting him sitting, and the second in a standing pose. The portraits were drawn using a Chinese brush and Indian ink. Surviving sketches in the Studio’s collection indicate that Karl thought about creating a life-size sculpture later on, but this was not realised. Guangqia added inscriptions in his own hand to both drawings and stamped them with a red seal. The seated drawing has an inscription in which he quoted from a Buddhist poem, ‘A Contented Mind’ by the scholar Lingfeng of Mt Tiantai. In the summer I went to visit the Austrian sculptor Duldig with Professor Yu Da Fu. My virtue is slight – I cannot accept your offerings and gifts; I am amply rewarded by the clouds and springs. Rather than a table laden with pearl-like rice, I prefer the wind and leaves falling on my bed. Sitting quietly on my meditation cushion Is sweeter than the wheat offered by a thousand families. The pity is that I am gradually growing old; My bitter journey is not worthy of your offerings. The second drawing has a quote from a Buddhist poem on the study of Chán (Zen) Buddhism, by the famed Chán master, Dàjiàn Huìnéng (638–713): The portrait, with its figure positioned on a scroll-like ground and inscription is reminiscent of traditional Zen Buddhist portraiture. In this school of portraiture, which stretched back to at least the thirteenth century, monks were depicted sitting or standing facing the viewer, and typically the monk added an autographic inscription to the portrait. The portraits were often passed from master to disciple, continuing the disciples’ journey of spiritual enlightenment and were revered for their association with remarkable or holy priests. The Buddhist monk, Guangqai who added his inscription and stamp to the drawings would most certainly have been aware of this tradition. It is likely that Karl was aware of this tradition, one of the points where the studio’s collections of art works from Singapore intersect with the earlier Viennese collections can be found in the Library where a catalogue of an exhibition, 'Ausstellung Ostasiatischer Malerie und Graphik' is held. The Viennese Friends of Asian Art and Culture and the Albertina Museum staged this exhibition of East Asian painting and graphic works in 1932. Such was the internationalism of Duldig’s education in Vienna, that adaption to a new environment and culture in the Straits Settlement was swift, and he was able to interpret the artistic traditions of the place, and make them his own. It is part of the strength of the collection, that in many cases contemporary supporting documentation for the works of art is available. In this case there is a photograph of the Monk with Yu Ta-fu, and Karl and Eva Duldig, outside the studio at the time the drawings were made. Ann Carew 2016The portraits of Guangqai have national and international aesthetic significance. The works of art demonstrate the artist’s skill in capturing the physical appearance and demeanour of his subject, and his ability to adapt his working methods to incorporate traditional Asian materials and cultural practices. The portrait is one of few examples in Melbourne of a central European modernist artists working in, and engaging with Asia, during this period and it is culturally and aesthetically significant for this reason. The portraits are also historically interesting in documenting the life and experiences of Karl Duldig in the Straits Settlement (Singapore). Ann Carew 2016Brush drawing in chinese ink on paper. Seated Buddhist Monk. Chinese calligraphy hand written in black ink. Two red stamps under calligraphy.Signed Karl Duldig in l.r. corner. Dated Singapore 1940 in l.l. corner.

This sculpture is a bronze cast of Karl Duldig’s 1956 terracotta sculpture titled 'Moses'. The terracotta sculpture won the 1956 Victorian Sculptor of the Year award, an honor given by the Victorian Society of Sculptors. The National Gallery of Victoria purchased the original terracotta sculpture for the Gallery’s collection in 1956. In 1979 the NGV allowed Karl to cast the original terracotta sculpture in bronze (to a limited edition of 5). The National Gallery of Victoria holds one of these casts and one is in Duldig Studio collection. The original terracotta sculpture was exhibited in 1956 at the Olympic Arts Exhibition in Wilson Hall at the University of Melbourne. Two other works by Karl were also exhibited, a sandstone titled 'Adam and Eve' and a work titled 'Fountain'. The catalogue for the Olympic exhibition, which promoted modernism across a variety of disciplines, noted that Australia’s post war immigration program had given ‘further momentum to the modernist cause’. The identification of émigré artists, such as Karl Duldig, with the acceptance of modernism in Australia became a major theme in any discussion of art and design in the post war period. Ann Carew 2016The subject Moses and the tablets of law is an important theme in the history of art. For example the National Gallery of Victoria collection includes paintings on this topic by the Australian Aboriginal artist, Queenie McKenzie (1991), prints by the Russian-French modernist artist, Marc Chagall (1956), and a painting by 19th century British academic painter, John Rogers Herbert (1870s). Michelangelo’s sculpture of Moses is perhaps the most famous sculptural interpretation of the subject. In Karl’s hands we have a modern interpretation of the theme. His simplification and abstraction of form and attention to surface modeling is masterly. The figure has an emotional intensity and despite its relatively small scale, a ‘forceful monumentality’. The sculpture is aesthetically significant for its craftsmanship, expressive qualities and modernity. It is historically significant because of its associations with the 1956 Olympic Arts Festival. The Duldig Studio’s bronze cast of the sculpture was exhibited in the exhibition '1956: Melbourne, modernity and the XVI Olympiad, Museum of Modern Art at Heide.' Apart from the formal qualities of a work like Moses, its relevance as a motif in Judaism and Christian faiths ensures its place as a work of spiritual significance. Ann Carew 2016Bronze cast from terracotta sculpture. Depicts Moses as in Exodus 32 when he returns from Sinai with the tablets of the law to find his people worshipping the golden calf, in his fury he holds the tablets aloft above his head before crashing them down on the ground.

Karl Duldig’s ceramic bowl is a particularly interesting example of Karl’s ability to creatively respond to a new environment with a fresh visual repertoire, in this case, the flowering Eucalyptus in a design reminiscent of traditional European folk art. The bowl is an excellent example of the utilitarian and decorative studio pottery produced by Karl and his wife Slawa Horowitz-Duldig between 1944 and 1960. Clay was an important medium for Karl. When he was forced to flee Austria for Switzerland, working with clay became a convenient medium; and he continued to expand his use of clay in Singapore. In Australia his work in clay extended from domestic hand-made pottery to public sculptures and architectural reliefs. In 1944 Duldig purchased a kiln, which was installed in the garage of the family’s St. Kilda flat, soon after a pottery wheel was acquired. It was the beginning of a cottage industry that supplemented the family income during the war years and beyond. Duldig initially sold his decorative ceramic wares through a local florist in St. Kilda, and subsequently through shops such as the Chez Nous French Art Shop (Howey Place) and Light and Shade (Royal Arcade), and the Primrose Pottery shop in Collins Street. The Primrose Pottery shop was an extremely important commercial outlet, and hub, for emerging artists, potters and designers from 1929 until 1974. Its proprietors Edith and Betty MacMillan worked closely with their suppliers, commissioning and taking items on consignment. In the post war period important Melbourne studio potters such as Allan Lowe, Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Neil Douglas exhibited and sold domestic wares in the Primrose Pottery shop. The Duldigs studio pottery provides a counterpoint to the ceramics produced at Arthur Merric Boyd Pottery in Murrumbeena, which was established in 1944 by Arthur Boyd, John Perceval and Peter Herbst. The emphasis on painterly decoration was important and the AMB potters also produced simple household wares decorated with Australian flora and wildlife, for example Neil Douglas also made small bowls decorated with the fairy wrens, lyrebirds, gumnuts and eucalypts. Ann Carew 2016The Duldig Studio’s collection of ceramics has national aesthetic and historic significance. It contains a representative sample of works of art in ceramics created by Karl Duldig during his lifetime, including small sculptures, as well as functional and novelty items for the tourist market during the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. The artist’s working methods and the development of his practice are comprehensively demonstrated in the collection. This in-situ collection demonstrates the philosophy of the Vienna Secession and its inheritors that handcrafted, simple functional domestic wares might enrich both the lives of the maker and the user. This bowl is part of a collection of ceramics that has national historic significance in providing a rich illustration of an immigrant and artistic experience, and touching on the themes of settlement adaptation of artistic practice. The collection is also associated with places of cultural and historical significance in Melbourne such as the Primrose Pottery Shop, and the story of Australian studio ceramics in the post-war years. Ann Carew 2016Cream earthenware bowl with flowering gum motif and sponged green background.Duldig in script incised under.

In 1945, after feeling Nazi Germany in 1939, Karl Duldig and his wife, Slawa, were finally granted ‘landing permits’ in Australia, after six years living in refugee camps, both here and Singapore. Duldig was appointed art master at Mentone Grammar in 1945, while also establishing a small ceramics business with his artist-inventor wife, Slawa. His work was prolific across several mediums. Our School Archives holds a large collection of sketches, as well as several bronze busts which he made, depicting life, students, and staff at Mentone Grammar during his time at the School from 1945 to 1967.

This photograph was taken by Karl Duldig when he and Slawa visited Slawa's sister Rella Laisne in Paris in 1968. They went to Paris as part of a world trip on the occasion of the unveiling of Karl's sculptural monument, Dawn, at the Maccabiah Village, Ram Gat, Israel. Commissioned by Hakoah and World Maccabi Union his monument commemorates the sportsmen and women of Hakoah Sports Club who were among the victims in the Holocaust. Karl had played for Hakoah in his youth. This is one of a large collection of photographs taken by sculptor Karl Duldig, documenting his art, life and family. The collection is of historical and aesthetic significance as a personal record of the work, cultural and social milieu of an Austro- Australian sculptor and his family from the early to late 20th century. it is also a record and representative of the experience of those people who came to Australia at this time, displaced by the upheavals of the Second World War.

Sculptor Karl Duldig, his wife artist Slawa Duldig and their daughter Eva, made the difficult journey from Vienna to Australia during World War II. In Australia, Karl and Slawa re-established their careers and left us the artistic legacy of the Duldig Studio, museum and sculpture garden. camberwell, glen iris, sculpture

This piece of fabric, known Fälter (butterfly), was designed by Mathilda Flögl (1893-1958), who worked in the textile department of the Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna. It is a remnant of the fabric that was used to make a bedspread for Karl and Slawa’s bed in their Vienna apartment where it lay decoratively over a gold brocade eiderdown. The purchase demonstrated Slawa’s interest in and knowledge of modern design and her commitment to the idea of enriching everyday life with beautiful objects, a principal of the Viennese Secession. Following the Duldigs removal from Vienna, the original bedspread and remnant were safeguarded and preserved by Slawa’s sister, Rella, in the basement of her Paris apartment. In 1948 the bedspread and this remnant were sent to Australia. The bedspread was a much-loved item but deteriorated over the years. In 1955 it was made into curtains, which are held in the Duldig Studio Collection. The Photographs of the bedspread in its original location are also held in the collection. The remnant is in pristine condition. The Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop) was a guild of designers and craftsmen that was founded by the architect Josef Hoffman (1879-1956) and the designer Koloman Moser (1868-1918). The firm manufactured a range of interior furnishings between 1903 and 1932. The textile department opened in 1900, and produced about 1,800 designs, mainly for printed fabrics for furnishings and apparel. The designs were characterised by simplified forms and vivid colours, and inspired by Eastern European peasant art and geometric motifs in contemporary painting. The workshop had a profound impact of European art and design, and its work is still celebrated today. Mathilde Flögl was born in the Czech Republic in 1893, and studied at the Kunstgerwerbeschule in Vienna. In 1916 she began working at the Weiner Werkstätte, and where she designed more than 120 textile patterns. This fabric Fälter or Butterfly was designed in 1924. The butterfly was a favourite motif of Flögl. In this design she plays with a variety of whimsical abstractions and arrangement of both the butterfly and the snail on a background of abstract colour stripes and blocks. Ann Carew 2016The fabric is of great aesthetic interest as an example of the work of the Viennese workshops, and the noted designer textile designer Mathilde Flögl. The original pencil drawings, pencil and gouache designs, and fabric swatches for Fälter are held in the MAK Museum in Vienna, and the Victorian and Albert Museum in London have a sample of piece of the silk fabric in an alternate colour wave. The Museum of Applied Arts in Sydney holds a swatch book of textiles from the Wiener Werkstätte, however Flögl’s work is not represented. The National Gallery of Victoria holds a similar swatch book. The remnant has an excellent provenance, is associated with a powerful personal narrative, and is significant and rare item relating to history of the Wiener Werkstätte in Vienna, and the oeuvre of Matilda Flögl.   Ann Carew 2016Remnant of a block-printed silk fabric used to make the bedspread for Karl Duldig and Slawa Horowitz-Duldig's bed in Vienna.

48 pages, A4, Softbound, Paper covers. non-fictionJournal published by the Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library, Melbourne. Contains essays, reviews, fiction and poetry in both English and Yiddish.ron abel, yehuda svoray, karl duldig, gedaliah shaiak, masha leon, joseph leftwich, moshe ajzenbud, malvina malinek

44 pages, A4, Softbound, Paper covers. non-fictionJournal published by the Kadimah Jewish Cultural Centre and National Library, Melbourne. Contains essays, reviews, fiction and poetry in both English and Yiddish.serge liberman, ephraim bluth, rev. s. link, maria lewitt, karl duldig, a sutzkewer, ron abel, paul forgasz

This photograph of Slawa Horowitz-Duldig was taken while she was a private student of Secessionist sculptor Anton Hanak. It was taken in his studio in the Prater, possibly by Karl Duldig. Slawa is standing next to her masterwork in marble, 'Kneeling female figure'. This sculpture and others completed later by her as a student at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, were left when the Duldigs fled in 1938, hidden by a friend and subsequently lost.One of a number of photographs taken when Karl Duldig and Slawa Horowitz- Duldig were sculpture students in Vienna in the 1920s, these are a significant record of the art training system offered in Austria between the wars.

Karl Duldig

This self-portrait exemplifies Karl and Slawa's shared interest in the art forms of other cultures - also seen in the significant number of Viennese art books on these topics in the Duldig Studio library. It takes inspiration from Egyptian sculptures and is strikingly similar to the cover image of Götter Ӓgyptens (Gods of Egypt) by Alexander Scharff (Library) although her short hair puts a stylish and very modern slant upon the image. The sculpture is hollow, with a large opening at the rear. Slawa on full face, eyes downcast, hair parted in the middle & pulled back in bun with large comb. Drapes across both shoulders. modernism

This photograph of Slawa and her sister was taken a few months before Slawa and baby Eva left Vienna, in December 1938. They joined Karl in Switzerland. After leaving Europe, she did not see her sister again for 30 years – years which are documented in the many letters held by the Studio, sent over this time. In 1968 Slawa and Rella met one more time in Paris.This photograph documents the important relationship between Slawa Horowitz-Duldig and her sister Rella Horowitz, later Laisne. Rella assisted Slawa in the process of developing her invention of the modern foldable umbrella, and hid the family's artworks and furniture, designed by Slawa and the firm of Sigmund Jaray, in her apartment in Paris during the Second World War. It is of historical significance as it documents life in Vienna prior to the Second World War.