Pair Plaster Busts Beethoven and Strauss Painted 20th Century

Pair of painted plaster busts depicting the composers Ludwig van Beethoven and Johann Strauss, likely produced in the third quarter of the twentieth century. Both busts are hollow cast in plaster and hand-painted in polychrome: soft pink flesh tones, dark hair for Beethoven and blond for Strauss, dark coat over red waistcoat, yellow bow tie for Strauss and red pleated cravat for Beethoven. The composer's name is modelled in relief across the front of the base. Each bust stands on a painted round plinth imitating wood. The pair is in good condition.

Pairing Beethoven with Strauss is characteristic of the domestic musical culture of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries: Beethoven as the figure of the serious German symphonic tradition, Strauss as the face of light Viennese music and the waltz. Each addressed a very different audience, and for that very reason the two were often placed side by side in salons, music cabinets and on pianos, as a gesture of breadth. The polychrome finish with its soft flesh tones and contrasting clothing places this pair within the tradition of chalkware and plaster busts produced on a large scale in Italy, Germany and the Low Countries during the second half of the twentieth century for the decorative market.