Albert von Keller (Swiss-German, 1844-1920)
Study for Auferweckung [Resurrection],
also known as Raising of the Dead or The Raising of the Daughter of Jairus
1884
oil on cardboard
19 x 31.5 cm
signed and dated lower right A. Keller 1884
"Since the late 1870s, Albert von Keller worked on a painting that is considered the most important of his occult phase, which was essentially influenced by the psychotherapist [forensic psychologist] Albert von Schrenck-Notzing. Keller's painting "Auferweckung", which was completed in 1885, today in the Neue Pinakothek, was created under the influence of hypnotic experiences and spiritualist meetings organized by Schrenck-Notzing. The painting, which narrates the story of the resurrection of the daughter of Jairus, described in the Gospels, was preceded by countless oil studies and drawings, based on living models as well as corpses. This small sketch study, focused on the moment of awakening, gives an impressive insight into the painter's work process." KF
Publication History:
Heidrun Katharina Künzel, Jairi Tochter im 19. Jahrhundert: Studien zur Bildgeschichte eines religiösen Motivs [Jairi's Daughter in the Nineteenth Century: Studies in the Pictorial History of a Religious Motif] (Berlin: Lit Verlag, 2021), pg. 314, not illustrated, but referenced, and described thus:
"Jairi's daughter is in the process of straightening her bare torso. Her eyes are open, but her facial expressions, which are still frozen, indicate that her consciousness is only slowly returning." (English translation from the German original)
