Sachse-Schubert, Martha (1890 - after 1949), The Seven Swabians, around 1915

Martha Sachse-Schubert(1890 - after 1949). Die sieben Schwaben (The Seven Swabians) , silhouette on yellow inked background, 9.2 x 17.6 cm (image size), 16 x 25 cm (sheet size), signed lower right "M. Sachse-Schubert.", marked "handgeschnitten" lower left, circa 1915.

The verse by Albert Lortzing is noted under the silhouette:

„I wills den Leute zeigen

Was Klugheit alles kann;

I bin kei dummer Schwoabe,

I bin a gescheiter Man.“

About the artwork

In keeping with the subjet, the very wide-format silhouette shows the seven Swabians moving towards the hare - the supposed beast - sitting in the woods on the left. The seven Swabians are delicately modelled and their physiognomies are typical of their respective characters. Despite this diversity, the brave warriors all hold on to the thick lance shaft, without which they would be in danger of falling. The rabbit looks at the curious troop, who seem to be out to get him, with bemusement. The humour of the clumsiness lies precisely in the naïve community of the Swabians, who try to defy the rigours of life with their order of battle. The Seven Swabians are thus an allegory of human comedy. The drama of this general human comedy is heightened by the striking yellow-black contrast of the painting.

Public collections that own works by Martha Sachse-Schubert:

Stadtgeschichtlichen Museum Leipzig.

Selective Bibliography

Ulrich Thieme und Felix Becker (Hrsg.): Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, Bd. 30, Leipzig 1935, S 297.

Heinz Rölleke (Hrsg.): Grimms Märchen und ihre Quellen. Die literarischen Vorlagen der Grimmschen Märchen synoptisch vorgestellt und kommentiert, Trier 2004.

About the art

The silhouette, which was probably used in Asia as early as the 12th century as a stencil for porcelain painting, developed in Western Europe from the art of paper cutting, which became widespread in the 18th century. Named after the French finance minister Étienne de Silhouette, whose proverbial miserliness is the basis for the anecdote that he decorated his house with black silhouettes instead of oil paintings, the term 'silhouette', which emerged in the 1930s, was initially a negative expression for 'cheap art'. However, the silhouette was part of a tradition that quickly overshadowed its pejorative meaning. According to the legend of Pliny the Elder, the silhouette is the true origin of painting: a young Corinthian woman had traced the shadow of her lover's head on a wall as he set off on a sea voyage. This legend contains the two essential elements that made the silhouette a fashion that permeated all social classes in the second half of the 18th century. On the one hand, the silhouette creates an authentic image; on the other, it is a projection screen for desire. The silhouette, detached from the representation of the human profile, draws on this combination of realism and imaginative potential. The shadow became the artistic material for creating scenic representations with a strong affinity to the fairytale and the fantastic, while at the same time appearing authentic. The silhouette was therefore important not only for the Enlightenment, but also for Romanticism, Classicism and Biedermeier. The art remained popular well into the twentieth century and was practised by artists as diverse as Philipp Otto Runge and Henri Matisse.