August Wittig

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August Wittig, lithograph by Adolf Dauthage , 1883
Hagar and Ishmael
Grave stele with Lamentation of Christ from 1892 - August Wittig, professor of fine arts and crafts rests here (2019)

(Friedrich) August Wittig (born March 23, 1823 in Meißen ; † February 20, 1893 in Düsseldorf ) was a German sculptor .

Life

Wittig became a pupil of Ernst Rietschel at the Dresden Art Academy in 1843 . During a stay in Munich, he made sketches and preparatory work for the group of figures Siegfrieds Abschied von Kriemhild , which Wittig then completed in Dresden. The Saxon King Friedrich August II. Was so enthusiastic about it that he granted the sculptor apprentice a generous grant. Wittig was thus able to embark on a study trip to Italy in the spring of 1849, which took him via Florence (1849) to Rome (1850). He lived and worked in Rome until 1863.

In 1862 the Düsseldorf Art Academy appointed him professor of sculpture. That is why he returned to Germany in the late summer of 1863 and began teaching in Düsseldorf in 1864. Wittig was also instrumental in setting up a separate sculpture school there.

In 1865 he took on the order to execute his group Hagar and Ismael (see picture) in marble for the National Gallery in Berlin . He completed this work in 1871 and was made an honorary member for it by the Academy in Carrara . Wittig last lived in the house of Sophie Hasenclever at Goltsteinstrasse 25.

He died at the age of almost 70 and found his final resting place in the north cemetery in Düsseldorf .

Work selection

  • 1846 round relief Hylas and the nymphs - Dresden sculpture collection
  • around 1846 bronze sculpture Siegfried's farewell to Kriemhild - Dresden sculpture collection
  • 1849/50 Marble Group Caritas - Museum Meißen
  • 1854–1874 marble sculptures by Hagar and Ismael , finished as plaster model in 1854, executed in marble in 1874 - Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin
  • 1860 round relief Loreley - Museum Meißen
  • around 1866 marble bas-relief "The Entombment of Christ" for the altar of the castle church in Dönhoffstädt , Rastenburg district in East Prussia (post-war loss);
  • 1870–1880 Participation in the War Ensemble : four groups of figures made of sandstone - in the Großer Tiergarten , southwest of the House of World Cultures . (The figures were placed near the Reichstag building on the former Alsenplatz until 1938 and were implemented for Albert Speer's world capital Germania . August Wittig made the sculpture Farewell to the Compatriot .)
  • 1870–1880 Participation in the Four German Streams ensemble : four groups of figures made of sandstone - in the Großer Tiergarten on Großfürstenplatz / John-Foster-Dulles-Allee , opposite the House of World Cultures . The figures were badly damaged and were awaiting renovation in a depot. Only the centrally placed Triton Fountain by Josef von Kopf and the base were still there. In the meantime (2015) the figures have been restored and put back in their original location. The Vistula (wood rafting, corn picker) was created by August Wittig .
  • 1869 Schadow monument , bust of Wilhelm von Schadow (son of Johann Gottfried Schadow and director of the Düsseldorf Art Academy) for Schadowplatz in Düsseldorf
  • 1875 bust of Peter von Cornelius - Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin
  • 1892 bronze sculpture Lamentation of Christ - on Wittig's grave in the Nordfriedhof Düsseldorf , field 72

Student (selection)

literature

Web links

Commons : August Wittig  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Goltsteinstrasse 25 (Hasenclever, Wwe., Goltsteinstrasse 24 E), Wittig, Friedr., Professor of the Kgl. Art academy. in the address book of the mayor's office in Düsseldorf 1888 ub.uni-duesseldorf.de
  2. ^ Goltsteinstrasse 25 (Hasenclever Erben E.), Wittig, August, Professor of Sculpture. in address book of the city of Düsseldorf 1893 ub.uni-duesseldorf.de
personal data
SURNAME Wittig, August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wittig, Friedrich August (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH March 23, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH Meissen
DATE OF DEATH February 20, 1893
Place of death Dusseldorf