Female figure with greyhounds Franz Hagenauer ca. 1936

During the early Art Deco period, figures accompanied by greyhounds were an exceptionally popular motif for small, decorative sculptures made of bronze and ivory. Franz Hagenauer took up this subject in the 1930s, reinterpreting it in his own, modernized style.
The elegant elongation of the female figure is continued in the lines of the greyhounds and further exaggerated. With their characteristically elegant, streamlined silhouette, the greyhounds fit perfectly into Hagenauer’s distinct aesthetic. The composition seems frozen in a single moment of movement. With the woman’s wide stride and the forward-reaching animals, the figures almost give the impression of breaking free from their base, thus creating a typical Hagenauer piece with a high dynamic and decorative effect.