Lot 2041: Wilhelm Thony (Graz 1888-1949 New York) 'Cardinal Jean Verdier' ( Archbishop of Paris), 1937, preliminary study for the oil painting destroyed by fire in 1948, signed W. Thony, oil on canvas, 25.4 x 19. 6 cm, framed, (K) Full-page colour reproduction

Wilhelm Thony (Graz 1888-1949 New York) 'Cardinal Jean Verdier' ( Archbishop of Paris), 1937, preliminary study for the oil painting destroyed by fire in 1948, signed W. Thony, oil on canvas, 25.4 x 19. 6 cm, framed, (K) Full-page colour reproduction in: Wieland Schmied, W. Thony, Portrat eines Einzelgangers, Verlag Galerie Welz, Salzburg 1976, plate 49. Exhibited and published in: W. Thony, Kunstverein, Munich 1959, No. 49; Wilhelm Thony, Kunstverein, Darmstadt 1960, No. 46; Wilhelm Thony, Galerie Welz, Salzburg 1961, No. 49; Wilhelm Thony Gedachtnisausstellung aus Anlaá der 80. Wiederkehr seines Geburtstages, Neue Galerie, Graz 1968, No. 36 (repr.); Galerie Welz, Salzburg 1977, No. 16; Moderne in dunkler Zeit. Widerstand, Verfolgung und Exil bildender Kunstlerinnen und Kunstler in der Steiermark 1933- 1948, Neue Galerie, Joanneum, Graz 2001 (repr.). Provenance: Galerie Welz, Salzburg; At the Paris Universal Exhibition in autumn 1937 Thony was awarded a gold medal by the international jury as artist exhibiting in the Austrian section, as well as a certificate of honour for his large-size oil painting of Cardinal Verdier, the Archbishop of Paris, which aroused a lot of admiration in numerous exhibitions until it was destroyed in a large fire in New York in 1948 Judging from reprodcutions and two small-scale oil studies, the painting did not concentrate on the facial features of the sitter, but on the splendour and symbolic character of a dignitary of the Roman Catholic church' On March 4th, 1948 the painter suffered a terrible blow when a fire was raging in Brown's warehouse, where many of his oil paintings and works on paper were stored. The fire and the water used to extinguish it destroyed or damaged some thousand works, including numerous masterpieces, such as the famous portrait of Cardinal Verdier and significant landscapes and views of towns. See Wieland Schmied, Wilhelm Thony, Verlag Galerie Welz, Salzburg 1976, pp 184-86.