A classical sculptural drawing by Toni Stadler: Kopf des jungen Perikles (The Head of Young Pericles). Pericles was the leading man of Athens, a significant statesman, in the 4th century BC. The sculpture of the boys head is reproduced in the mentioned catalogue, p. 105, as well as Lithograph No. 136, as it was published by Grafos Verlag. It was drawn by the artist in soft lithograph chalk on transfer paper and then transferred onto the plate. His 'Schmale Knabenkopf' (Slender Boy's Head, 1964) could be a twin of this lithograph. The lids hold the inner pressure of the eyes back, the back of the head glides fluidly into the neck. The same is true of his girl and women's busts, in which a modulated, very sculpturally interpreted hair dressing comes into play. The purposeful light modulation in this print is wholly due to the plastic volume and is interpreted as a life-preserving force. It is perfectly understandable to go into raptures here about this Pericles (as in the other cases, about his naiads and nymphs) or about the light volume and the pictorial handling of form.

The Sitzende Najade (Sitting Naiad) is a recurring motif in Toni Stadler's works. It is a female nude become a myth, recalling the lessons of Maillol. A print that captivates for its color and its flowing sources of light. One of his projects took up passages from Goethe's 'Faust', such as 'Hearing Aglaïa's hegemony and Euphosine's song', 'by the grace of giving, receiving and giving thanks'. Aglaïa's radiance, Ephrosyne's cheerful nature and Thalia's blossomming happiness, these are characteristics which the nymphs of Roman fountains embody. This print, published by Grafos, belongs to this wide circle of the Graces, nymphs, oreads, naiads and dyads and renders the female as a goddess of nature.

If you love the sensual nature of a sketch, the immediacy of color, the fine monochrome modulations of tones, this lithograph, 'Nymphe an der Quelle sitzend' (Nymph Sitting at the Spring), will meet your tastes. Across the torso of a sitting naiad, a spring creature, the day plays.

This motif was put into sculptural form by this artist several times. In 1961, Stadler is invited to the Villa Massimo in Rome as a guest of honor. There he had his idea for the George Marshall Memorial in Frankfurt. Inspired by the Roman fountains, Stadler worked on one of his triads of reclining female figures: water spirits, spring nymphs born of the Mediterranean spirit. The oreads, naiads and dyads were the nymphs of the mountains, the water and trees.