ZanyZander's Blogs

I wonder what kind of value he was putting on this boy in the nude?    A sexual one or something else?   

This magazine - in English "German Art and Decoration" - dealt with products of the then contemporary German art, current artists and works of art including various crafts (such as glass art). It regularly organized its own design competitions, in which artists could submit their works in various categories and for different purposes.

The picture you posted was one such submission. Here one sought a motive for a poster directly for the magazine. The picture is from the artist J. R. Witzel from Munich and took second place in the competition.

According to information in the text, it had the "motto" "patina". Presumably there was a framework for the competition and the motive in an earlier issue of the magazine.

From the little information here, I can only speculate or interpret that the picture shows a young "genius" (ie a gifted artist) whose hand is probably led by a muse.

Although it took only second place, it was apparently so much popular that it was nevertheless also carried out as a motif for a poster.

Read on page 156 f. at the Archive.org link

It is printed on page 193 with the remark that it will be used for a poster. The content of the article there, however, has nothing to do with the picture.

"German Art and Decoration"--an art nouveau magazine published by Alexander Koch from 1897 to 1935.  Your pic is probably a cover image. Some more info on the magazine and art examples can be found in English on Uncle Google (images not generally geared toward erotic).

Hope you can read the German language.

https://archive.org/details/deutschekunstund01kochuoft/page/192