Lot 149: BRUNO SCHULZ

BIANCA AND HER FATHER IN A COACH

6 1/4 by 7 7/8 in. 15.9 by 20 cm.

ink and graphite on paper

Executed <EM>circa </EM>1936.

Acquired by the original owner in Poland before 1939
Then by descent to the present owner

Like the previous lot, this drawing by Polish artist Bruno Schulz deals with the themes of temptation and desire. It is an illustration for Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, one of Schulz's two novels. A surrealistic work, the novel is a collection of short stories which describe life in the Jewish sections of Schulz's hometown of Drohobycz, in present day Ukraine. In the story Spring, the narrator devotes much of his time to describing his fascination with Bianca, a beautiful but strangely reserved young woman. "I was standing today at the junction of Fountain and Scarab streets when a shining, open landau as broad and shallow as a conch drove by. In that white, silk-lined shell I saw Bianca, half-lying, in a tulle dress. Her gentle profile was shaded by the brim of her hat tied under her chin with ribbons. She was almost drowned in swathes of white satin." Overcome by excitement, the narrator produces a pistol from his breast pocket and fires a shot into the air.

Please see the previous lot for more information on Bruno Schulz