Alfred Cossmann

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Memorial plaque on the house at Lazaristengasse 14

Alfred Cossmann (* 2. October 1870 in Graz , † 31 March 1951 in Vienna ) was an Austrian engraver and graphic designer , among other things, by his bookplate became known.

Life

Alfred Cossmann was born in Graz, his father was a Liechtenstein forest clerk from Leibenfeld near Deutschlandsberg . Cossmann spent most of his life in Vienna, where he studied ceramics, painting and graphics from 1886 to 1895 at the Vienna School of Applied Arts. Since his studies he was a member of the Vienna Academic Gymnastics Club. He turned to pure copper engraving, which had become out of date at the time , and continued his education as an etcher and engraver at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna under William Unger until 1899 . He belonged to the "Vienna School of Copper Engraving" in the first half of the 20th century. Cossmann's works found attention and recognition among graphic artists and art lovers around the world. In 1913 he married Anna Wettengel, with whom he lived from then on in Vienna's Lazaristengasse. In 1917 he was appointed professor and taught from 1920 at the graphic teaching and research institute . During the time of National Socialism, Cossmann was a member of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts .

In 1951 Cossmann died in Vienna and was buried in an honorary grave in the Vienna Central Cemetery (12D-1-35).

Most of his extensive graphic work is now in the possession of the copper engraving collection of the Austrian National Library . A number of sheets can be found in the Deutschlandsberg Castle Museum .

Honors

Cossmann has received numerous awards for his work. In the First Republic he received the silver and gold decorations of the Republic of Austria . During the Nazi era , he received the Goethe Medal on his 70th birthday in 1940, the Kriehuber Prize donated by the National Socialists in April 1942, and was made an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in October of the same year . Cossmann can also be found on the God- gifted list of the most important painters, albeit under the misspelling Cohsmann .

In 1952 the Cossmanngasse in Vienna- Penzing (14th district) was named after him, in 1962 the Alfred-Cossmann-Gasse in Graz.

In 1970 Heinrich Neumayer designed the “Alfred Cossmann special postage stamp, 100th birthday”. For the 125th birthday, the regional association of the Lower Austrian Art Association organized a memorial exhibition in St. Pölten.

literature

  • Theodor Alexander: Alfred Cossmann's ex-libris and commercial graphics. Vienna. 1930 (= main work). 1933 (= addendum). Private printing.
  • Alfred Cossmann: The magic of copper engraving. A look into the world of the engraver. Austrian State Printing House, Vienna 1947.
  • Josef Reisinger: Catalog raisonné Alfred Cossmann. Published by the Alfred Coßmann Society. Austrian State Printing House, Vienna 1954.
  • Alfred Cossmann 1870–1951 on his 125th birthday. Karmeliterhof St. Pölten, September 21 to November 12, 1995. Regional Association of Lower Austrian Art Associations, St. Pölten 1995. (Catalog publisher: Franz Kaindl).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b weekly newspaper Weststeirische Rundschau from June 20, 2009. Volume 82, No. 25, page 3.
  2. ↑ a b c final report of the expert commission for street names Graz , Graz 2017, p. 20f
  3. ↑ Compare the information in the catalog of the German National Library
personal data
SURNAME Cossmann, Alfred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Coßmann, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian engraver and commercial artist
DATE OF BIRTH October 2, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Graz
DATE OF DEATH March 31, 1951
Place of death Vienna