Anton Puchegger
Anton Puchegger (born April 7, 1878 in Payerbach am Semmering , † September 25, 1917 in Davos ) was an Austrian animal sculptor in the transition from Art Nouveau to Expressionism . He created most of his work in Berlin .
Life
Anton Puchegger was born in Payerbach am Semmering in Lower Austria in 1878; he came from a humble background. His training as an artist was made possible by the financial support of Count von Wurmbrand-Stuppach . From 1892 to 1896 Puchegger attended the wood carving school in Bozen , then the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. Around 1900 he was on a grant from the Vienna Art Academy in Paris, where he completed his training as an animal sculptor. Returning to Austria, Puchegger managed various excavation and restoration work at Schloss Schallaburg for two years on behalf of Baron von Tinti . In 1904 he was offered a professorship at the School of Applied Arts in Znojmo (now Znojmo , Czech Republic), but he turned it down and moved to Berlin instead.
From 1905 Anton Puchegger lived as a freelance artist in Berlin. He found the models for his animal sculptures in the Berlin Zoological Garden , where he made friendly contacts with the then director of the zoo, Ludwig Heck . In 1909 a fruitful collaboration began with the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (KPM), for which Puchegger designed a cycle of animal figures. Since 1910 he exhibited his works regularly at the Great Berlin Art Exhibition and was increasingly recognized. In 1915 the Königliche Nationalgalerie Berlin acquired his wooden sculpture "Uhu", in 1918 the figure of a "Budeng monkey". Anton Puchegger died in 1917 of the consequences of pulmonary tuberculosis .
plant
Anton Puchegger worked in various sculptural materials and techniques. Originally trained as a wood sculptor , he placed this art at the center of his work throughout his life. He was also present on the art market with bronze sculptures and machine-reproduced stone sculptures. He had great success with porcelain animal sculptures, which he designed for the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin (KPM) and the Schwarzburger workshops for porcelain art. Puchegger also designed craft items such as lamps, clocks and desk sets, etc. a. for Orivit AG.
The animal was at the center of his work - a topic that gained great importance for modern sculpture at the turn of the century. Puchegger can be seen in the context of the newer Berlin sculpture school , which, with August Gaul and Louis Tuaillon, produced important positions in modern animal sculpture . Like August Gaul, Puchegger was also particularly interested in non-domesticated animals that he could study in the Berlin zoo.
Characteristic of Puchegger's animal sculptures is the extensive stylization of the animal's body, but based on closer observation of nature. Sharp ridges and tight, angular volumes characterize its design language, which is characterized by the technique of wood carving. As a sculptor and designer, Puchegger stood on the threshold between the enthusiasm for nature in Art Nouveau and the thirst for abstraction of Expressionism .
reception
After his untimely death, the Berlin Artists' Association , which Puchegger had joined in 1914, honored the sculptor with a memorial exhibition in the Berlin Künstlerhaus. On the occasion of the “Animal Pictures” exhibition, which opened in February 1918, the Prussian state bought two more wooden sculptures by Puchegger. One of them, the life-size portrait of the chimpanzee Missie , was given to the zoological garden, was on public display there and was believed to have been burned in the Second World War until it was found again in 2011. However, most of his estate was scattered to the wind and thus withdrawn from a museum reception.
The porcelain sculptures, which were produced well into the 1920s and are still coveted by collectors today, are an exception. As outstanding examples of Art Nouveau porcelain animal sculpture, they have found their way into numerous museums. In 2012, the Berlin Bröhan Museum dedicated a monographic exhibition to the artist for the first time. As part of this extensive rediscovery of the artist, the museum showed not only porcelain figures from KPM and the Schwarzburger Werkstätten but also many previously unknown works by the sculptor in wood, stone and bronze. Since 2012, the Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin has once again presented Puchegger's "Budeng-Affen" in the exhibition collection.
literature
- Ludwig Heck: Anton Puchegger, the animal sculptor. In: Der Weltspiegel , year 1918, No. 5, p. 1 f.
- Georg Lenz: Animal sculptures by Anton Puchegger. In: Velhagen & Klasings monthly books , 32nd year 1917/1918, p. 107 f.
- Irene von Treskow: The Art Nouveau porcelains of the KPM. Inventory catalog of the Königliche Porzellan-Manufaktur Berlin 1896-1914. Munich 1971, ISBN 3-7913-03457 .
- Ingeborg Becker (ed.), Anna Grosskopf (text): The animal in view. The sculptor Anton Puchegger (1878-1917). (Exhibition catalog) Bröhan Museum, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-941588-09-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ The animal in sight. The sculptor Anton Puchegger (1878-1917), exhibition from January 24 to May 6, 2012 in the Bröhan Museum
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Puchegger, Anton |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian animal sculptor in the transition from Art Nouveau to Expressionism |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 7, 1878 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Payerbach am Semmering |
| DATE OF DEATH | September 25, 1917 |
| Place of death | Davos |