Otto Czeschka (1878-1960) original woodblock print. Original woodblock print (1920) by the Austrian Expressionist Otto Czeschka, whose designs serve as a perfect realization of the ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’: a total work of art in which all elements follow a single artistic idea. Carl Otto Czeschka's illustrations to Franz Keim's abridged version of the Nibelung saga, a mythic tale of royal wealth and betrayal, evoke an elegant and enchanted world in which stylized toy soldiers and chessboard knights, like the ones the artist displayed at the Viennese Kunstschau exhibition in 1908, stand guard or enact epic battles. A Viking ship glides through choppy waters; the luminous geometric ornamentation on its sail epitomizes the Viennese use of lush surface patterning, in which exotic and folk sources were filtered through a distinctively modern aesthetic, that appealed to the widespread interest in untutored forms, such as "primitive" and children's art, as a basis for cultural authenticity and renewal. Signed and dated (on plate); H 13.1 x W 11.65 cm (matrix). State of Conservation: Good conservation state; no sign of previous restoration and conservation interventions; trimmed.