Bronze patinated, bronze plinth. Inscribed, indistinct foundry mark (probably Martin & Piltzing Berlin). Total height 73 cm, Ø plinth 32 cm. 19.0 kg.

Nude of an athletic young man about to throw the ball with a sweeping gesture and full concentration. Thematically, this moment is reminiscent of the famous discobolus of Myron from antiquity. Patina rubbed, partly greenish corroded.

Kraus studied at the Berlin Academy, where he was a master student of Begas. In 1900, he received the State Prize of the Prussian Academy of Arts for a five-year scholarship in Rome. Here he developed his own style, which combined neoclassicism with modernism. He was a member of the Berlin Secession and the Free Secession. In 1933, he became Presidential Councillor of the Reich Chamber of Culture. The work, designed in Rome in 1904 (large version at 149 cm), received the Müller Prize in 1906 and was acquired by the National Gallery in Berlin. The figure was cast in various sizes; a version from 1909 was installed in front of the Bildermuseum in Leipzig. All lots with a limit (starting price) of at least €1,500 are checked against the Art Loss Register database.

Literature : Thieme/Becker.