Janus-Bogen (Arch of Janus)
1959/1960
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
etching in black on wove paper
Dimensions
plate: 15.9 x 22.6 cm (6 1/4 x 8 7/8 in.) sheet: 34 x 41.2 cm (13 3/8 x 16 1/4 in.)
Classification
Portfolio
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Ruth Carter Stevenson
Accession Number
1996.90.4
Art Historical Context
**Janus-Bogen (Arch Janus)**, created by Austrian artist Anton Lehmden 1959/1960, draws its evocative title from the ancient Roman Arch of Janus—a weathered quadrifrons gate in Rome symbolizing transitions and duality, much like the two-faced god it honors. Lehmden, a key in the Vienna School of Realism, blended surreal dreamscapes with meticulous realism in the postwar era. This etching reflects that movement's fascination with myth, architecture, and the uncanny, emerging as artists like Lehmden responded to Europe's turbulent history by exploring imaginative inner worlds. Rendered as a pre...