Satyr mit Nymphen und Kind c. 1889

Franz von Stuck created this ink, pencil, and gouache work on paper entitled "Satyr mit Nymphen und Kind," meaning "Satyr with Nymphs and Child," but we don't have a specific date for its creation. This image invites us into a realm of myth and nature, reflecting a society grappling with modernity's impact on traditional values. Stuck, working in Germany, engages with Symbolism, an artistic and literary movement, and revives classical themes to explore contemporary anxieties about sexuality and the primitive. The satyr, nymphs, and child are not simply figures from mythology but are also symbols through which the artist and his audience could reflect on social structures and taboos around topics like desire and the body. To truly understand this work, we can look into German cultural history of the time, as well as the history of the art market and the institutions through which artists such as Stuck gained success.