Carl Moser (Bolzano, 1873-1939) - Rosengarten - Catinaccio

Carl Moser (Bolzano 1873-1939), Catinaccio, Rosengarten, color woodcut, signed and dated (1929), the sole work measures 48.5x22 cm (incised part 44x17.5 cm). It is one of the versions of one of Carl Moser’s most sought-after subjects.

Carl Moser's native house is on Via della Rena. It was there that Carl Moser, first son of Carl Vinzenz Moser and his wife Rosina, was born on January 27, 1873. His father, a tanner by trade, was a painter by passion. Upon his death he left a rich series of artistic works. His brother Josef was also active artistically.
At 14, Moser began technical studies in Rovereto. According to the wishes of his relatives, he was to become a merchant. After a year of compulsory military service, Moser began to work in the family shop in the trade he had just learned. He never stopped being active artistically, however.
Franz von Defregger noticed Carl Moser’s talent and urged him to undertake artistic studies. Moser then chose the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. After finishing his studies he traveled in Germany, Italy, Corsica and France. In Paris he attended the Julian Academy. In the summer of 1902 he met the Viennese painter Max Kurzweil, who proposed that he devote himself to color woodcut.
During 1907 Carl Moser was compelled to leave Paris and return to Bolzano. He no longer had the means to support himself. The return to Bolzano was a hard blow for him. He found lodging in his uncle’s attic. In the same year of his return to his homeland Moser devoted himself to some woodcuts inspired by the Tyrolean landscape. There were not many subjects in the local area that offered him creative inspiration. Yet some of his Tyrolean works remain renowned to this day: the first version of the Alpe di Siusi with the Sciliar, the Catinaccio and the real masterpiece among Moser’s woodcuts, Castel Roncolo. Carl Moser died after a long illness on July 23 at the Bolzano hospital, at 67.

His creations contributed fundamentally to the history of color wood engraving. The number of subjects used was also limited, which unite almost all of his woodcuts. He loved to fill the entire image field with one face or with one or more figures and let them turn away from the viewer. In the images, figures seen from behind dominate, faces whose profiles cannot be delineated. (from www.morandell.it)