Wittgenstein’s painting goes for a million
NewsAkseli Gallen-Kallela’s 1902 painting “Autumn, Five Crosses”, formerly owned by the Wittgenstein family of Vienna, sold last month at Christie’s for 1.1 million Euros.
The pianist Paul Wittgenstein and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein grew up with this Finnish masterpiece on their wall.
Gallen-Kallela also made epic portraits of Mahler and Sibelius.
it seems that Gallen-Kallela had some problems with arithmetic.
On Facebook, the entire picture can be seen, with five crosses.
Oh!
My favorit painter without any doubts.
Then again, you might look up the full-sized painting and count them yourself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus%C3%A9lius_Mausoleum#/media/File:Akseli_Gallen-Kallela_-_Autumn,_a_Study_for_the_Frescoes_of_the_Sigrid_Jus%C3%A9lius_Mausoleum.jpg
We have been sitting-down now for some 2 hours studying the picture, and could not agree on the number. I saw only one, my boss saw two – with doubts – so we asked the librarian who saw nothing at all (had left his glasses behind), so we asked the neighbours who are still pouring over the image and are quarrelling about how many there are actually visible. Some say 5, others 3, and no solution in sight. I’m all for clarity in painting, as in Barnett Newman’s: https://sheldonartmuseum.org/news/barnett-newman
Sally
Ludwig Wittgenstein was born in 1889, Paul in 1887. They couldn’t have grown up with this painting on the wall since they were already teenagers when it was created.