Product Details
RICHARD KLEIN,
A RARE AND IMPORTANT NAZI BRONZE DESK EAGLE,
circa 1937, consisting of an eagle standing approximately 17in. high with swept back wings clutching a swastika within a circular oak-leaf wreath in its talons with stylised clouds billowing out behind, the whole mounted on a tri-platform bronze base with a 'RK' monogram to the rear atop a 9 1/2in. by 11 1/2in. green marble plinth with black and white veining
Provenance:
Professor Richard Klein (1890–1967) was a German artist, known mainly for his work as a favoured artist of the Nazi regime. Klein was director of the Munich School of Applied Arts and was one of Hitler's favourite painters and designers. Klein was one of the artists who exhibited at the "Great German Art Exhibition" held at the Haus der Kunst in Munich in 1937, meant as a contrast to the modern art condemned by the Nazis as Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art). Klein's work at the exhibition included plaques contributed from Adolf Hitler's private collection as well, it is believed, a larger version of the eagle offered here but without the stylised clouds. The poster for the exhibition, "The Awakening", was designed by Klein and also used as the front cover for the Nazi art review 'Art in the Third Reich'. Klein was also the designer of many Nazi decorations including the Sudetenland Medal, Anschluss Medal and Memel Medal, collectively known as the German Occupation Medals, plus the most-awarded of all of the Third Reich medals, the War Merit Medal.
Estimate £3,000-5,000