Smirking, dim-witted, grimacing or disgusted-that is how the character studies cast in lead or cut into alabaster appear to viewers: sculptures that do not adhere to any classical ideal of beauty but confront the viewer with a typology of the ugly. The fascinating character heads by the baroque sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt may be indebted to his contemporary Johann Kaspar Lavater, yet they never cease to amaze with their untimely artistic aggressiveness, modernism even, exposing the flip sides of human expression.

Smirking, dim-witted, grimacing or disgusted-that is how the character studies cast in lead or cut into alabaster appear to viewers: sculptures that do not adhere to any classical ideal of beauty but confront the viewer with a typology of the ugly. The fascinating character heads by the baroque sculptor Franz Xaver Messerschmidt may be indebted to his contemporary Johann Kaspar Lavater, yet they never cease to amaze with their untimely artistic aggressiveness, modernism even, exposing the flip sides of human expression.

 Messerschmidt, who created conventional portraits of dignitaries such as Empress Maria Theresa and Joseph II while working at the Imperial Academy in Vienna, began to turn exclusively to character heads in around 1770, a fact that quickly gained him the reputation of a maverick. Having taken early retirement due to a psychological disorder that was never clearly defined, he spent the rest of his life as a recluse in Pressburg. This extensive monograph about an exceptional artist attempts an interpretation of the "deeper meaning" in an oeuvre which is as unusual as it is uncompromising.

Foreword

Introduction

Essays

Michael Krapf

Franz Xaver Messerschmidt"s Life and Work

The career of a difficult one

Michael Krapf

The "Character Heads"

From the "simple heads conformable with nature" to the convulsive works

Michael Krapf

Patrons and Friends

with special regard to the role of the "magnetizer" F. A. Mesmer

Almut Krapf- Weiler

Messerschmidt and Contemporary Art

The reception of his oeuvre during the second half of the 20th century

Catalog

compiled by Michael Krapf

Appendix

Chronological table regarding Franz Xaver Messerschmidt"s biography

Bibliography

Credits

Lenders

Photo credits