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The sphinx in sand
as a symbol of what was to be lost |
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The beach at Wismar 1924
– Hess with his friend Lola next to the sculpture in
sand |
(dma) -
The dispersal of Hess’ works, due mainly to
his constant wanderings to avoid Nazi persecution, concerned not
only his paintings, water-colours and graphic art but above all
his sculptures: it was far less practical to move these during
his journeys back and forth between exile in Sicily and
Switzerland. One of Hess’ most singular sculptures can be seen
to have had almost prophetic significance: “Sphinx with Lola’s
face” was made using the sand of a beach on the Baltic Sea in
homage to a friend during a holiday in Wismar in the summer of
1924. By its very nature the sculpture was ephemeral,
but it was captured in this photograph along with the artist and
his model. On the back of the photo Hess wrote the inscription
“Lola und ich in Cairo”, as if it had been taken in Egypt. But
the Sphinx in the sands was nothing more than a mocking
forewarning of the fate that was to befall so many of the
artist’s works in the decades to come. We know they existed,
but we no longer know if they still exist and, if so, where.
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Busts of Marya Neitzel and her three
sons – life-size - (Munich 1926)
- Lost works
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Heads of two Sicilian boys
(Messina 1927)
Lost works |
Two views of a head of Carl Kaspar,
exhibited in 1926 at the Galerie Paulus
in Munich - Lost work |
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Pair of heads –
life-size (Munich 1928) Lost works |
Head of a girl – life-size
(Munich 1928)
Lost work |
Head of a woman (Munich 1928)
Lost work |
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Head of Edoardo
Balmer
(Basel 1938) - Lost work |
Bust of Lotte Schutzner
(Liestal, Basel 1938) - Lost
work |
Bust of
a woman with the model alongside and another bust (Liestal,
Basel 1938) Lost works |
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Plaster
casts |
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Female
nudes – life-size (Munich 1932) Lost
works |
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Heads of Frau Schöfer
and her son Jürge
life-size (Munich 1932)
Lost works |
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Hess’
niece Luisa alongside one of his sculptures. On the
same terrace another sculpture in front of a fresco
(Messina 1932) Lost works |
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Sculptures in wood |
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Crucifix – 73 cm high, outspread arms 65
cm (Lucerne 1934) Private collection Rome |
Head 21 x
12 cm
(Lucerne 1934)
Private collection
Sicily |
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Reclining woman -
relief 16 x 28 x 5 cm (Lucerne 1934)
Private collection - Sicily |
Reclining man -
relief 15 x 28 x 5 cm (Lucerne 1934)
Private collection - Sicily |
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Lucerne
1934 – (Left) Christian Hess carves the head of a
“devil” for the puppet theatre. (Right) His wife Cecile.
Behind her on the wall are a puppet and Hess’ painting
“Park with red seat”.
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