Machine gun shelter (postcard reproduction) 1915

Machine gun shelter made of heavy logs with three soldiers inside. In the center, the machine-gunner firing, in a sitting position, his left foot propped up on the parapet. Brown boots, dark gray trousers, light shirt, sleeves rolled up. On the head a beret, on the belt a brown leather revolver pouch. Behind him a (sub?)officer decorated with medals, observing the situation with his binoculars. In the left foreground a seated soldier telephoning with a field telephone. Through the embrasure view of high alpine mountain landscape.

JQAW# G_1915_180
Original lost.
Postcard reproduction from 1915.
Signature: none recognizable.
Private collection Austria (postcard).

An unfortunately lost painting documented only by a reproduction as an art postcard. The drama of the battle action is aptly captured by the dynamics of the shooter's posture, as well as the careful composition of the three soldiers. The dark brown-gray tones of the colors document the reality of battle and the harsh life in the Alpine trenches. Adams has succeeded here in creating a documentary work far from any war romance, which gains a special artistic charm through the composition and almost expressionistic execution. The depiction was created on the Dolomite front in the high alpine terrain of the Pass de Selle in 1915.

Cross-references

Exhibited

1916 Künstlerhaus Vienna (EL 60 1915/16 #1658)

1917 Künstlerhaus Vienna collective exhibition John Quincy Adams No. 15 (EL 61 1916/17 #505)

Literature

APH, catalog raisonné JQA 1995, p. 141, cat.#109, fig.#80.

Provenance

1915 acquired at the Künstlerhaus exhibition by J Blaschezik, who also acted as lender at the 1917 exhibition (KH inlet books).. Since then lost.
Art postcard reproduction private collection Austria.