Franz Barwig the Elder

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Franz Barwig the Elder, around 1925
Franz Barwig, self-portrait, 1923
Playing bear, after 1910
Franz Barwig's tomb in the Neustift cemetery

Franz Barwig the Elder (born April 19, 1868 in Schönau , North Moravia , † May 16, 1931 in Vienna ) was an Austrian sculptor .

Life

Franz Barwig, originally from Moravia , was the son of a small farmer. Even as a teenager he carved wooden figures and thus contributed to the maintenance of the family after the death of his father. He attended the arts and crafts school in Vienna from 1888 to 1897 under Hermann Klotz. From 1890 onwards, he was also freelance. In 1903 the son Franz Barwig the Younger was born, who later also became a sculptor like his father. In 1904 he taught at the technical school for wood processing in Villach , in 1908 he worked in the teaching materials office of the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry in Vienna. In the same year he was involved in the design of the jubilee parade for the 60th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph .

From 1909 to 1921 Franz Barwig was a professor of sculpture at the Vienna School of Applied Arts. After he had voluntarily ended his teaching activity, he only lived as a freelance artist in Vienna and worked, among other things, for the Keramos Vienna . From 1925 to 1927 he stayed in the United States , where he carried out the sculptural design of the Mar-a-Lago villa complex in Palm Beach on behalf of the architect Josef Maria Urban . From 1906 he was a member of the Hagenbund and from 1925 of the Vienna Secession . After his return from America to Franz Barwig could not integrate into the local art scene, committed 1931 suicide . He was buried in the Neustift cemetery . In 1938 the Spitzergasse in Vienna- Währing was renamed Barwiggasse in his honor . Since this was given its original name back in 1945, the Franz-Barwig-Weg was dedicated to Barwig in 1954 (also in Währing).

Franz Barwig's students included the carver Jakob Löw and the sculptor Otto Zirnbauer .

power

Franz Barwig was one of the most important Austrian sculptors during the Art Nouveau era . He mainly worked in wood and created numerous animal sculptures as well as nudes . Barwig also dealt with sacred art . He tried to combine elements of modernity with tradition.

Barwig began as a wood sculptor and was initially connected to the traditional art taught at the arts and crafts school. With his participation in the exhibitions of the Hagenbund from 1905 he found his own style and worked with flat cut . Around 1910 he developed his typical interest in depictions of animals, for which he conducted studies in the Schönbrunn Zoo . He also dealt with the art of the Secession and began to work with other materials for the first time, especially bronze . In addition to files, he also created depictions of farmers. Especially after the First World War , he increasingly lost contact with contemporary art, as he had remained loyal to an art concept based on the craftsmanship that wanted to combine beauty and morality , i.e. essentially a secessionist style.

Works (selection)

Exhibitions

  • Franz Barwig the Elder. Austrian Gallery Belvedere, Vienna 2014 [1]

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Adolf Luser: Der getreue Eckart , Der getreue Eckart, For the German House, Vienna 1923, p. 88 ff.
  2. ↑ Ilse Krumpöck: Die Bildwerke im Heeresgeschichtliches Museum , Vienna 2004, p. 111 f.

Web links

Commons : Franz Barwig the Elder  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Barwig, Franz the Elder
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Schönau near Neutitschein
DATE OF DEATH May 16, 1931
Place of death Vienna