Arthur Strasser

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Artur Strasser. Charcoal drawing by Rudolf Swoboda , around 1880.

Arthur Strasser (born February 13, 1854 in Adelsberg , Krain ; † November 8, 1927 in Vienna ) was an Austrian sculptor .

biography

From 1871 to 1875 Arthur Strasser studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts , also with Viktor Tilgner . During his studies he became a member of the Vienna fraternity Germania , later Gothia ; he was also a member of the junior team of Krems middle school students Rugia . His interest was in sculpture and sculpture. with a scholarship he was able to continue and expand his studies in Paris from 1881 to 1883 . When he returned to Vienna, his works in the naturalistic style found high recognition. In 1893 he received the Kaiserpreis, in 1896 the Great Golden State Medal.

In 1892 Strasser went on a trip to Egypt with the painter Charles Wilda (1854–1907) , during which he found inspiration for his artistic work. Oriental motifs are increasingly appearing in his works, whereby he focuses his interest on the representation of typical inhabitants. The Egyptian water carriers in traditional costumes - Arab population in particular - should be captured in a moment of an everyday activity and impress with their beautiful physiognomy . B. also the Nubier head in the Belvedere Vienna (1892, inv . No. 7130). With these works, Strasser, like many of his contemporary artist colleagues, met the prevailing taste of the time of Orientalism , whereby the colored version should appear as naturalistic as possible. These small sculptures were quite popular and also found their buyers in the Austrian imperial family, for example Empress Elisabeth acquired the Fellach woman for the Hermes villa .

Arthur Strasser: Marc-Anton-Plastik , today's installation in front of the Vienna Secession building
Crowned eagle at the Kennedy Bridge

From 1899 to 1919 Strasser took over the sculpture class as professor at the Vienna School of Applied Arts . The Vienna Secession strove to turn away from the prevailing historicism and appointed a few new professors to give the teaching new ideas. Strasser was certainly not one of the revolutionary innovators, but his natural, subtle execution could set some impulses. Here he created the large bronze sculpture of Marc Anton for the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 . The fat general sits sedately in a chariot pulled by lions. The depravity and decadence of the ruler is impressively contrasted by the powerful beauty of the big cats. The group of figures stands in front of the Vienna Secession building today .

Arthur Strasser's grave

The bronze eagles on today's Kennedy Bridge also come from Strasser . Bent deeply from the imperial crown that weighs the eagles on their backs and a mighty garland of leaves that additionally restricts them, they hold spades and staples in their claws and are intended to remind of the work that the workers had to put in to build the light rail. In the central cemetery, the relief of the Entombment of Christ at the Dr. Karl Lueger Memorial Church is one of his works in public space.

Its small-format, polychrome terracottas impress with their particularly natural color selection and surface design. The elephant with panther 1906, colored glazed ceramic 58 × 32.5 × 38 cm (HSAK, Inv.No. 1295/0 University of Applied Arts ) demonstrates this convincingly. This dramatic battle between two completely different animal species, who mobilize all their own strength in their tense bodies in the will to survive, enhances the appearance of the particularly finely crafted skin structures. In their naturalistic design, fur and dermis compete with each other like the muscular strength of animals fighting against each other.

Arthur Strasser designed some objects for the "Goldscheider'sche Porzellan Manufaktur and Majolika-Fabrik". The factory founded by Friedrich Goldscheider in 1885 enjoyed an excellent reputation and was able to carry out Strasser's technically demanding work.

Arthur Strasser is certainly not one of the pioneering artists of the new Viennese currents around 1900, but his works point to a sensitive gift of observation, which is reflected in the fine material execution, as well as in a thoroughly critical examination of the chosen topics.

Arthur Strasser's drawing was made by the oriental painter Rudolf Swoboda in 1880, who also drew Joseph Urban (1872–1933), the founder of the Hagenbund , an artists' association that met in the “Zum Blaue Freihaus” inn. It can be assumed that Arthur Strasser also belonged to this group for a while.

He was a member of the Wiener Künstlerhaus from 1886 to 1891 and from 1907 to 1927 and of the Vienna Secession from 1898 to 1900 . He was also a member of the Munich Secession .

Among his students was the Upper Austrian sculptor Anton Gerhart .

His sons Benjamin and Roland Strasser became famous painters. His daughter Hedwig Strasser was married to the pediatrician Kurt Huldschinsky .

His honorary grave with a bronze head on a stone stele is in the Vienna Central Cemetery (Group 32C, No. 8).

literature

Web links

Commons : Arthur Strasser  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Helge Dvorak: Biographical Lexicon of the German Burschenschaft. Volume II: Artists. Winter, Heidelberg 2018, ISBN 978-3-8253-6813-5 , p. 670.
  2. ^ Austrian Gallery Belvedere : Arthur Strasser ; accessed on 21 Sep. 2017
personal data
SURNAME Strasser, Arthur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH February 13, 1854
PLACE OF BIRTH Adelsberg
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 1927
Place of death Vienna