Youth and Cupid

• Anton Kolig (1886‒1950)
• 1911
• Oil on canvas
• Leopold Museum, Vienna

Anton Kolig was a member of the New Art Group and led the artistic innovations of young artists. The beginnings of his lifelong fascination for the human form, especially the male nude, can be witnessed in this picture of a boy standing with a wall behind him. His muscular body and oversized feet are already adult-like but his attitude is timid and awkward. The small statue of Cupid, the god of love, symbolizes that the boy is on the threshold between puberty and adolescence, and that he will soon come to know love.