The temptation of the winner

Mediums: paper, watercolor, pencil.
Location: private collection.

The Austrian artist created this one of the most famous and frequently copied paintings when he was a student. Grief and horror he experienced during the war, which were always on his mind, were reflected in this painting through the paradoxical appearance of the main character. The exhausted face and slightly visible laurel wreath on his pale bald skull is the price he paid for the victory over the nazism and over his own fear of getting killed. There is an image of a praying priest, like a message to God ready to break free from the numb throat.No less impressive are other faces turned away from an ugly creature, whose profile is placed at the right side of the composition.