August Brömse - The Girl and Death (1901-1902)

An Old Song

August Brömse (1873 – 1925) was one of many Czech artists influenced by contemporary German art and culture, especially by the graphic work of Max Klinger. His artistic work is generally influenced by Symbolism, Expressionism and Art Nouveau. His work "The Girl and Death" According to Otto M. Urban, "The Girl and Death" is a modern variant of the Dance of Death. Death (a skeleton) plays a fantastic song on the violin; the girl listens in fascination and dances a wild dance — death accompanies her life's pilgrimage. Life becomes endless suffering for the girl, cursed by the deity; her love is fatefully led from the start by tragic steps. As a symbol of the first fruits of sin the girl, in some sort of hypnotic trance, flies through space on a great snake which — in some prints of the series — holds an apple in its mouth. The concept of the landscape evokes a sense of unreality and timelessness. One of the last prints brings the whole story up to date. The girl lies prostrate on a window-sill; the anonymous roof tops of the modern city appear in the background.

The Lost Paradise

I'm Coming

By the Window

Dance

In the Park

Life Escaping