Gustinus Ambrosi

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Gustinus Ambrosi (born February 24, 1893 in Eisenstadt as August Arthur Ambrosi , † July 1, 1975 in Vienna ) was an Austrian sculptor and poet .

Photo from 1949
Relief bust of the artist in the museum in Stallhofen

Life

Childhood and youth

Gustinus Ambrosi had versatile parents. The father, Friedrich Ambrosi (1851–1908), as kuk - captain of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, provided for the family's maintenance; but he was also a painter and worked as a choir director and composer . First he taught at the military secondary school in Eisenstadt, from 1894 in St. Pölten , in 1899 he was transferred to Prague , where he was assigned to the 8th Corps Command. The mother, Natalie Ambrosi, née de Lángh, wrote poetry and played the piano excellently.

The youngest son August (later Gustinus) astonished with his remarkable musical talent; At the age of 6 he already played the violin in quartets. In 1900 he fell ill in Prague with epidemic meningitis with complete deafness as a result. From 1902 to 1906 Gustinus attended the Prague private deaf-mute institute.

Teaching and studying

His working life began on October 2, 1906. He was initially accepted as an intern, from 1907 as an apprentice in Prague's largest sculptor and plasterer company "Jakob Kozourek".

After the death of the father (1908) the family moved to Graz in 1909 ; Here Gustinus began teaching at the company Suppan, Haushofer and Nikisch continue his acquittal took place on January 15, 1911. Even as an apprentice, he attended the master class for modellers Graz kuk Staatsgewerbeschule . Here he was particularly encouraged by the sculptor Georg Winkler, who discovered his special talent for portraiture . Ambrosi first received public recognition with the work The Man with the Broken Neck (1909); the only 16-year-old was accepted into the cooperative of visual artists in Styria .

From 1910 to 1912 he successfully participated in collective exhibitions in the Graz State Museum ; In 1912 the young artist was awarded the State Prize for Sculpture of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. In 1913 he received - after the intercession of the Austro-Hungarian governor of Styria, Count Manfred von Clary-Aldringen - from Emperor Franz Josef I a state studio for life in Vienna.

For further training, Ambrosi moved to Vienna with his mother in 1912 and studied until 1914 as an extraordinary student at the Academy of Fine Arts (guest student with Josef Müllner and Edmund Hellmer , private lessons with Kaspar von Zumbusch ).

In 1918 Gustinus Ambrosi married Anni Murmayer, this marriage was divorced in 1922; His marriage to Maria Louise Janik from Lemberg, which he entered into in the same year, ended in January 1925. It was only with Berta Mayer, whom he married on February 14, 1928, that he found happiness for the next 47 years.

The intensive written exchange was of great importance for the deaf artist, as it established contact with the hearing environment. His written legacy is therefore very extensive; it contains not only correspondence with personalities from all walks of life, but also recordings of conversations, text fragments and diaries. This authentic source material proves that Ambrosi was on friendly terms with recognized poets and writers of his time, such as Felix Braun , Stefan Zweig , Anton Wildgans , Franz Karl Ginzkey , Alfons Petzold , Franz Theodor Csokor or Arthur Fischer-Colbrie , he portrayed some out of enthusiasm free of charge. For his main work “Promethidenlos” (1916–1918) he was inspired by Gerhart Hauptmann 's early poetry of the same name; In 1914 he had portrayed the poet and Nobel Prize laureate whom he admired in Agnetendorf .

Interwar period

In the interwar period , Ambrosi made great efforts to obtain orders from abroad; he worked in many major European cities (Amsterdam, Brussels, Antwerp, Paris, Rome, Basel, Zurich, Cologne and others) and owned studios in Rome, Paris and Cologne.

On behalf of the Austrian Foreign Ministry , Ambrosi created a Mussolini bust in April 1924 . The good relations with fascist Italy earned him the title " Commendatore ", which he carried on his letterhead in the 1920s.

In 1925 he was commissioned to act as commissioner for Austria at III. To represent the Biennale in Rome; even today he presented highly valued artists such as Alfons Walde , Gustav Klimt , Egon Schiele , Alfred Kubin , Anton Faistauer , Franz Barwig . In the 1930s Ambrosi portrayed the Hungarian ruler Miklós Horthy and created a memorial to the dictator Engelbert Dollfuss , who was murdered in 1934 , which was erected at the Grazer Opernring (renamed “Dollfuss-Ring” at the time). The memorial was destroyed by National Socialist sympathizers on March 12, 1938 .

time of the nationalsocialism

Ambrosi himself was staying in Zurich at the time of the "Anschluss". According to his own statements, he wanted to save his works in the three large studios in Vienna and returned to Vienna in July 1938 despite warnings from his relatives. Ambrosi was promptly interrogated by the Gestapo and confronted with anti-nationalist newspaper articles from 1937, but was soon released. Ambrosi remained ignorant of the persecution of Leopold Blauensteiner , the head of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts for the Gau Vienna. He wrote repeatedly to Adolf Ziegler , President of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, Berlin, that he, the unreliable artist, should not be entrusted with commissions for the New Reich Chancellery . Even before the outbreak of the Second World War , Ambrosi had been informed by General Building Inspector Albert Speer that he had been selected to participate in the sculptural design of the garden of the Reich Chancellery in Berlin. After his models of four decorative fountain figures from the thematic area of ​​Greco-Roman mythology ( Narcissus , Venus , Diana and Bacchus ) had found approval, he was commissioned to create them. As a result of the lack of material during the war, only two sculptures could be cast in bronze. Ambrosi worked for the new Reich Chancellery from 1938 to around 1943. The new proximity to regime giants such as the President of the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts, Adolf Ziegler, helped Ambrosi to avert denunciations about his proximity to the Austro-Fascist regime. An application for membership in the NSDAP made in May 1938 was postponed in 1941 because some NSDAP functionaries viewed Ambrosi's membership in the Fatherland Front critically, although Ambrosi described his membership in the Unity Party of the Dollfuss-Schuschnigg regime as compulsory membership without active participation. It was only an internal letter from Speer to Heinrich Himmler that made Ambrosi above all doubt in the eyes of the new regime. Speer wrote: "The fact that Ambrosi was a conscious supporter of the Dollfuss and Schuschnigg regimes before the change could not induce him ( Adolf Hitler ) to refrain from employing one of the most capable sculptors in Germany for a moment." The political network and acceptance of Ambrosis in Berlin helped him to prevent further denunciation attempts in the following years.

Hitler had a studio building planned for Ambrosi, whom he valued, by Reich building officer architect Roderich Fick in Linz on the Pöstlingberg; the project was canceled during the planning phase due to the course of the war. In addition, Albert Speer gave the order in 1944 to commission the general building officer Hermann Giesler , who was responsible for Linz, to also supply Ambrosi with orders for the redesign of Linz. Due to the war, all Linz projects and those relating to the artistic design of the Reich Chancellery were postponed. Giesler never made contact with Ambrosi, as he was in direct competition with greats like Arno Breker and Josef Thorak while planning the Linz projects .

Ambrosi worked on his poems during this “dead time” for him. Ambrosi tried unsuccessfully to get an alternative depot for his works in Vienna 4th, Waaggasse 19, and in the state studio in Vienna's Prater . As a result, his state studio in the Prater was devastated and looted by the bombing of Vienna , and 663 of his works were destroyed.

After 1945

In the summer of 1945 Ambrosi turned to the Ministry for Reconstruction and asked for help for the badly destroyed city studio in the attic, 1040 Vienna, Waaggasse 19. No support could be given to him. He also looked for alternative quarters for the works that were still in existence and were in the destroyed Prater State Atelier. Prince Franz Josef II of Liechtenstein offered him help. Ambrosi was allowed to use a studio in the park of the Prince's city palace. His friend, Robert Strebinger, a microchemist at the Technical University, was also able to provide him with rooms. Ambrosi suspected that after the end of the Second World War he would be reproached for his work in the garden of the Reich Chancellery. As a precaution, Ambrosi sent a letter to the State Chancellery in which he asked for an exemption from the obligation to register as a former NSDAP candidate. In addition, he mentioned a number of names of well-known artists such as Thomas Mann , Romain Rolland , Felix Braun or Stefan Zweig , who knew about his attitude towards National Socialism. Ambrosi also defended himself by stating that his father-in-law applied for his NSDAP membership and that his wife had paid the membership fees until 1942. This information convinced the State Chancellery; Ambrosi was certified that he had never been a member of the NSDAP. According to the registration authority of the Federal Ministry of the Interior for the 4th district, Preßgasse 24, it was determined: "Gustinus Ambrosi - politically nothing incriminating" (file 137.313 of September 15, 1948). In 1947 Ambrosi did his first portrait commissions, such as the portraits of Commandant Meyer, Miss Anne Gerard and the poet Nicola Sidney. In 1948 he portrayed the French cultural attaché Prof. Eugene Susini, Hugo Huppert and the Minister of Education Felix Hurdes. With the portrait of Federal President Dr. Karl Renner, in 1949 a new field of activity opened up for Ambrosi; received further portrait commissions from leading politicians of the Second Republic, including Julius Raab (1957), Leopold Figl (1958) and Adolf Schärf (1960).

Interior of the studio (1949)
The couple in their studio (1949)
The house built by Ambrosi in Stallhofen

After 1945, Ambrosi sought to secure his remaining life's work. He insisted on his right to a state atelier for life; above all, he vehemently pursued the idea of ​​donating part of his life's work to the Austrian state. On July 10, 1951, the Council of Ministers unanimously decided to build a museum for Gustinus Ambrosi - due to his extraordinary achievements in the field of fine arts; The adjoining living and studio wing was to be made available to him as a tenant with all obligations and burdens.

The building complex in the Augarten was built from 1953 to 1957 according to the designs of the architect Georg Lippert . On May 20, 1957, Gustinus Ambrosi signed the notarial act with the Republic of Austria. 165 works in bronze and marble were donated to the Republic of Austria - in 1971 Gustinus Ambrosi handed over 56 works to the Republic of Austria (see here ).

As a result of decades of hard work, Ambrosi suffered from severe joint problems in the upper arms in the last years of his life; He repeatedly fell ill with pneumonia in the winter months. Nevertheless, in 1969, at the age of 76, he began to build his retirement home in Stallhofen , West Styria.

Ambrosi died shortly before moving into the newly built house on July 1, 1975 by committing suicide . The house, which he designed in the Tuscan style, has been a museum and memorial at the same time since 1988. Gustinus Ambrosi is buried in an honorary grave of the city of Graz at the St. Leonhard Cemetery in Graz .

In 1978 the Gustinus Ambrosi Museum was opened in the Augarten in Vienna- Leopoldstadt , which was designed according to the artist's concept; it is now part of the Austrian Belvedere Gallery . In the same year the Gustinus Ambrosi Society was founded. In 1984 the Ambrosigasse in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after him.

Ambrosi's sculptural work comprises around 2300 works, including around 650 portraits.

Awards

  • 1912: State Prize for Sculpture of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy in Graz
  • 1925: Commander of the Order of the Crown of Italy
  • 1927: Great gold medal of honor from Pope Pius XI.
  • 1949: Prize of the City of Vienna for Fine Arts
  • 1952: Knight of the French Legion of Honor - Medal of Honor of the City of Trieste
  • 1957: International Exhibition of Deaf Artists in Rome. Gustinus Ambrosi receives the “Silver Cup of Honor” from the Italian Ministry of Commerce as the best sculptor.
  • 1958: Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class - Large silver medal of honor from Pope Johannes XXIII.
  • 1960: Dr. Adolf Schärf medal
  • 1963: Gold Medal of Honor from the Federal Capital Vienna ; Golden laurel of the Vienna Künstlerhaus; Golden medal of the Schubert League Vienna.
  • 1974: Merit 1st level of the State Fire Brigade Association, Burgenland

Memberships

  • 1932 member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus
  • 1932 honorary member of the Karl-Franzens-University, Graz
  • 1935 honorary citizen of Graz
  • 1936 honorary citizen of Eisenstadt
  • 1947 member of the Tyrolean Artists Association
  • 1950 Honorary member of the Berta von Suttner Peace Society
  • 1953 honorary citizen of Oggau, Burgenland
  • 1956 Corresponding member of the National Sculpture Society New York
  • 1957 member of the founding committee of the Stefan Zweig Society in Vienna

Important sculptures (excerpt)

  • The Man with the Broken Neck , 1909, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Genius and Idea , 1915, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Wilhelm Kienzl monument , Graz Opera House
  • Promethidenlos , 1916–1918, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Eternal Spring , 1916, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Abel sacrificing , 1917, Ambrosi-Museum, Vienna
  • The Creation of Adam , 1913–1919, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Orpheus and Eurydice , 1919, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Man and his fate , around 1920, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Cain , 1922, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • The Knowledge , 1922, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Ikaros , 1923, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Mussolini , 1924, Belvedere, Vienna
  • Saint Sebastian , 1926, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna
  • Mother Earth , 1929
  • Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani [Cross of Christ], 1937, Ambrosi Museum, Vienna,
  • Consumatum est [Cross of Christ], 1937
  • Tomb of Prof. Dr. Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist , 1933, Vienna Central Cemetery
  • Portrait bust of Karl Renner , 1949, Army History Museum , Vienna
  • Monument to Mayor Karl Seitz , 1951, 1210 Vienna, Karl-Seitz-Platz
  • Phaidros , 1953, Bank Austria
  • Wiedner tomb, "The Angel and the Soul" , 1954-62, Wiltener Friedhof in Innsbruck
  • Portrait bust of Theodor Körner , 1959, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna
  • Daniel Swarovski monument , 1960, Wattens, Hauptplatz, Tyrol
  • Portrait bust of Adolf Schärf , 1960, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum, Vienna
  • Monument to Franz Schubert , 1963, opposite the Lichtentaler parish church, 1090 Vienna, Marktgasse 40
  • Monument to Federal President Dr. Adolf Schärf, 1966, Villacher Kurpark
  • Memorial to Joseph Marx , song composer, 1968, Graz city park
  • The blossom , 1965–1975, Ambrosi-Museum, Stallhofen, West Styria
Tomb for the physicist Ludwig Boltzmann in the Vienna Central Cemetery

Ambrosi as a portraitist

Gustinus Ambrosi can be regarded as an important portraitist of the 20th century; his portraits represent an important contribution to the intellectual and cultural history of this century. He created the portraits of Popes Pius XI. (1927), Pius XII. (1957) and John XXIII. (1961); The portraits of artists, cardinals, princes, statesmen, politicians, scientists and businesspeople were created.

The lyric work

  • The Sonnets to God , 1923
  • The sonnets at the grave of a love , 1926
  • One dead , 1937
  • The book of insight , 1959
  • The sonnets to Beethoven , 1974
  • The book of small songs , 1995, 2nd edition: 2000. Ed. G. Ambrosi-Gesellschaft.

Gustinus Ambrosi found recognition as an ingenious letter writer and critic of the times; he placed God, nature, human fate, ethics and aesthetics at the center of his considerations.

criticism

Politically colored criticism was given to Ambrosi in particular during the phase of coming to terms with the past more intensively in the 1980s. Liesbeth Wächter-Böhm criticized Ambrosi's change of position from Dollfuss portraitist to large sculptor commissioned by Albert Speer and then to prominent artist of the Second Republic, and Jan Tabor called Ambrosi the “prominent sculptor of all Austrian forms of government of this century”. It was also warned that these twists and turns should be openly documented in the Ambrosi Museum.

literature

  • Stefanie Leitner: The Austrian sculptor Gustinus Ambrosi his life and work from the monarchy to the 2nd republic . AV Akademikerverlag, 2012
  • Ambrosi folder. With a foreword by Felix Braun. Leipzig, Vienna: Eduard Strache [1919].
  • Max Hayek: Gustinus Ambrosi. In: Illustrierte Zeitung (Leipzig) 152 (1919), No. 3947, p. 197.
  • Fritz Karpfen: Gustinus Ambrosi. Thyros, Leipzig, Vienna 1923.
  • Ambrosi Festschrift 1948. Burgenland, Vienna. ( The ferry. Reprint)
  • Series of articles in the journals Der physiognomische Beobachter. and the good judge of people. Edited by Siegfried Kupfer. Nuremberg 1953–1977.
  • Announcements and commemorative publications of the G. Ambrosi Society. Vienna 1978–2009.
  • Natalie Ambrosi: Conversations with my deaf son Gustinus (1906-12). Edited by G. Ambrosi Society. 2003.
  • Roswitha Plettenbacher: Introduction to the correspondence of the sculptor Gustinus Ambrosi , Ed. G. Ambrosi-Gesellschaft, 2013.
  • Franz Renisch: Gustinus Ambrosi. Self-published, ISBN 3-9500018-0-8 .
  • Ilse Krumpöck: The sculptures in the Army History Museum , Vienna 2004, pp. 20–22.
  • Otto E. Plettenbacher : Gustinus Ambrosi, an artist's fate in the cultural and political upheavals of the 20th century. Vienna 2015, Kremayr & Scheriau, ISBN 978-3-218-01016-0
  • Journal for Book History - CODICES Manuscripti & Impressi (Issue 108/109), Elisabeth Zerlauth: "The Austrian National Library acquires the estate of Gustinus Ambrosi"

swell

  • Elisabeth Zerlauth: The poetic work of Gustinus Ambrosis. Dissertation. University of Innsbruck, 1982.
  • Anna Maria Hufnagl: Gustinus Ambrosi - portraitist of his time. Thesis. University of Graz, 1991.
  • Saur - General Artist Lexicon. Volume 3. Munich, Leipzig 1992, p. 156.
  • Felix Czeike : Historical Lexicon of the City of Vienna , Volume 1., P. 81.
  • Exhibition catalogs (personal): St. Gallen - Kunstverein, 1923; Budapest - Ernst Museum, 1933; Graz - Styrian Artists Cooperative, 1937; Vienna - Lobkowitz Palace, 1951.
  • D. Trier:  Ambrosi, Gustinus . In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 . 2nd revised edition (online only).

Web links

Commons : Gustinus Ambrosi  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Otto E. Plettenbacher: Gustinus Ambrosi, an artist's fate in the cultural and political upheavals of the 20th century. Vienna 2015, Kremayr & Scheriau, ISBN 978-3-218-01016-0
  2. ↑ a b c d e Street names of Vienna since 1860 as “Political Places of Remembrance” (PDF; 4.4 MB), p. 136ff, final research project report, Vienna, July 2013
  3. ^ Ernst-Adolf Chantelau: The bronze statues of Tuaillon, Thorak, Klimsch and Ambrosi for Hitler's garden . A contribution to the topography of the New Reich Chancellery by Albert Speer. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2019, ISBN 978-3-7494-9036-3 .
  4. ↑ Boelcke, German Armament, 1969, p. 361f.
  5. ↑ Gustinus Ambrosi: Promethidenlos. 1916, Retrieved July 4, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Mussolini bust in the Belvedere collection (with ill.)
  7. ↑ Ilse Krumpöck: Die Bildwerke im Heeresgeschichtliches Museum , Vienna 2004, p. 21 f
  8. ↑ Cf. Liesbeth Wächter-Böhm (Ed.): Vienna 1945 before / after. Vienna 1985, p. 132
  9. ↑ Review by Hermann Bahr : Critique of the Present. Augsburg: Haas 1922, 244–247.
personal data
SURNAME Ambrosi, Gustinus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH February 24, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Eisenstadt
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1975
Place of death Vienna