Lot 258: Theodore von Holst (1810-1844)

Dance Macabre, a scene inspired by Goethe's Faust
oil on canvas
38 x 72 5/8 in. (96.5 x 184.5 cm.)

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 23 November 1973, lot 177 (380 guineas to Phillips).

Theodore von Holst was inspired to paint scenes from Goethe's Faust (1808 and 1832) throughout his artistic career, exhibiting works on the theme at the Royal Academy in both 1828 and 1834. The present picture appears to show Faust with Helen of Troy in the second part of the tragedy, when the Doctor visits the underworld accompanied by Mephistopheles in search of Helen.

The artist was born in London in 1810 to Russian émigrés. He studied under Fuseli from 1820, whose style he emulated and adapted, and also at the Royal Academy from 1824. He came to the attention of Sir Thomas Lawrence as a precocious talent, but his premature death in 1844 ended his career before widespread recognition. Nonetheless, von Holst was to have a profound influence on the artist Dante Gabriel Rosetti, who collected his single female figure subjects.

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