Anton Anreith
Anton Anreith (born June 11, 1754 in Riegel am Kaiserstuhl , † March 4, 1822 in Cape Town ) was a German sculptor who worked in Cape Town from 1777. His brother Georg Anreith (1751–1823) was a builder in Hungary.
life and work
There are no reliable sources about Anreith's training. He probably did an apprenticeship with Joseph Amann in Endingen and later probably worked for Joseph Hörr . There is also only speculation about the reasons for Anreith's emigration, from the sculptural dispute in Freiburg to a smashed statue of a potentate.
In any case, he reached Cape Town on November 12, 1777 with the sailing ship Woestduijn , where he worked for a year as a worker in the garrison and later as a carpenter in the construction of the new Groote Schuur house. When converting a warehouse in Cape Town to a Lutheran church in 1780, he initially carried out carving work, and in 1782/83 he also created an organ parapet there with King David as a psalmist and putti . Due to the quality of the work, he was then commissioned to build the pulpit, which was built from 1784 to 1786. Later he was involved in the planning for the outside facade of the church and built the associated rectory (today: Martin-Melck-Haus ).
Because of his achievements in the Lutheran Church in Cape Town, Anreith was appointed master sculptor of the East Indian Society in 1786 . Together with Johann Jakob Graaf and Louis Michel Thibault , Anreith shaped the image of Cape Town at that time through his buildings. One of his first works was the so-called Kat balcony in the inner courtyard of the Castle of Good Hope with stucco work in the style of southern German stucco sculpture . Since there is no marble around Cape Town, it was Anreith's merit to introduce stucco reliefs and full sculptures into South African architecture for the first time by adopting stucco sculpture techniques learned in Breisgau (e.g. bracing with invisible supports or brickwork) . In 1788 he created the pulpit made of Indian wood for the Groote Kerk of the Dutch Reformed Church , Cape Town's main church.
In 1791 Anreith resigned from the service of the East Indian Society and henceforth worked for private clients. The gable on the wine cellar of the Groot Constantia farm in Cape Dutch style is one of his most important works of that time . From 1792 Anreith was responsible for the architectural decoration of numerous houses designed by Thibault and built by Hermann Schütte, including from 1801 and 1803 also for the execution of seven allegorical figures for the temple of the Cape Town Masonic Lodge De Goedde Hoop , of which Anreith had belonged since 1797. Between 1803 and 1805 he created the sculptures for two lion gates (one pair of lions is preserved on a gate of the Cape Town University), in 1805 he also made copper lion masks for an unfinished fountain on the parade.
After the British conquest of the Cape in 1806, building activity there generally declined. At that time, Anreith took art lessons and thus became the founder of South Africa's first art school. It was not until 1813/14 that he received new orders for architectural decorations on public buildings. The gravestone for his longtime companion Thibault from 1815 is considered to be his last sculptural work.
In 1815 the Masonic Lodge took over Anreith's art school and transformed it into a trade school, he himself remained in office as director. However, the last years of his life were marked by poverty, so that he tried to improve his income by selling self-carved pipe bowls.
After his death, Anreith was soon forgotten. As an important sculptor in South Africa, he has only been honored again since the 1930s.
literature
- Peter Assion: Anton Anreith (1754–1822) , in: Badische Heimat , 61st year volume 1981.
- C. Bosdari: Anton Anreith. Africa's First Sculptor. Cape Town, AA Balkema, 1954.
- Johannes Meintjes: Anton Anreith. Sculptor 1754-1822 . Cape Town, Juta and Co, Cape Town, 1951.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Anreith, Anton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-South African sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 11, 1754 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Riegel at the Kaiserstuhl |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 4, 1822 |
| Place of death | Cape Town |