signed with interlaced initials ‘STRAUCH.’ (in the plate) and with inscription ‘Stephan Strauch Mahler.’ (on the old mount)
etching
8.3 x 5.3 cm
Andresen 8 [1], second and final state; Nagler 387 [2]
A fine impression of this rare print, trimmed just on, or outside the platemark, the sheet is in otherwise good condition

Provenance:
Scharfen Collection (L. 3951).
Erhard Oskar Kaps (1915-2007), Leipzig (L. 3549).

The present tiny self-portrait by Stephan Strauch, which stands out for its intimate quality and its unusual signature, is exceptionally rare. Very little is known about the Nuremberg printmaker Strauch; Andresen only lists nine prints by the artist, which are all portraits, and furthermore notes that the artist was born in 1645 and died when he drowned in the river Pegnitz in 1677, a fact that could explain the artist’s small graphic output. [3] In a portrait by Johann Reinhard Mühl (1631-1692) depicting Strauch, [4] the artist is presented as a ‘Mahler’, suggesting that Strauch was also active as a painter, a theory that is repeated in the more modern, probably 19th century inscription, on the present mount. No paintings by Strauch, however, are known today.

[1] A. Andresen, 'Der Deutsche Peintre-Graveur oder die deutschen Maler als Kupferstecher', Leipzig, 1878, pp. 252-253.
[2] G.K. Nagler, 'Die Monogrammisten […], Band V, SJ-Z', Munich, 1879.
[3] A. Andresen, 'op. cit.', pp. 247-254.
[4] See: Hollstein 41 (Mühl).