Michael Arnold (sculptor)

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" Hygieia with Rákóczi and Pandur " (Lindesmühlpromenade, Bad Kissingen) (1857)
Statue of Maximilian II. Joseph in front of the Bad Kissinger casino (1865)
Bismarck memorial plaque (1874).

Michael Arnold (born April 29, 1824 in Aschaffenburg , † October 26, 1877 in Bad Bocklet ) was a German sculptor , painter and graphic artist .

Arnold worked as a sculptor in Bad Kissingen ( Lower Franconia ) and received orders from all over Germany. He worked in the style of late classicism . His students included Valentin Weidner , a busy sculptor of only regional importance, the Würzburg sculptor Arthur Schleglmünig (1864–1956), Clemens Buscher , who came from the Taubertal, and the later Munich academy professor Balthasar Schmitt , who were numerous before and after the First World War Created works of art mainly in southern Germany.

Life

Michael Arnold was born as the son of high school professor Valentin Arnold, born on March 4, 1798 in Iphofen , and Maria Magdalena Keller, born on July 8, 1792 in Bamberg .

After his father worked at the Johann-Philipp-von-Schönborn-Gymnasium in Münnerstadt from 1828 to 1829, he was transferred to Bamberg, where Michael Arnold's siblings Barbara Arnold (* December 5, 1831) and Johann Baptist Arnold (* April 21, 1835 ) were born. In Bamberg, Michael Arnold began an apprenticeship with the sculptor Adam Joseph Schäfer (1798–1871).

Although Arnold's two attempts to be accepted as a student at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts failed, he made the acquaintance of Ludwig Schwanthaler , who corrected some of Arnold's sketches.

Arnold's first assignment as a sculptor was the creation of the veterans' memorial in Mannheim , where he lived from 1843 to 1849. Possibly out of fear of reprisals because of his sympathy for the revolution of 1848/49 , Arnold moved to Münnerstadt in 1849; in the same year his father was again transferred to the local high school. Michael Arnold's family had already moved to the village a year earlier because of the entry of brother Johann Baptist Arnold into the Munich high school. Michael Arnold himself became a provisional drawing teacher at the grammar school in the winter of 1849; Officially it was a Regierungsreskript of 16 August 1850, the left "drawing lessons revocable" . During his teaching activity in Münnerstadt, Arnold continued to work as a sculptor; This is how, for example, the Way of the Cross in Thundorf in Lower Franconia and the House Madonna at the Julius Hospital in Münnerstadt were created.

In 1853 Michael Arnold became director of the newly created Kissinger drawing school. A year later Arnold set up an artist's studio for his work near the Kissinger Marienkapelle , in whose property he also worked as a spa keeper. In 1855 he gave up his position as a teacher in Munich and moved to Bad Kissingen; Arnold's successor in Münnerstadt was the sculptor Ignaz Bals. Arnold became a full citizen of the city on June 25, 1861 with the issuance of a reputation and property certificate by the Kissingen Guardianship Council chaired by the Kissingen city pastor Joseph Gutbrod.

During the Battle of Kissingen on July 10, 1866 as part of the German War , Prussian soldiers passed the Marienkapelle and thus Arnold's artist studio; On the orders of the Prussian officer, Arnold's works were spared from destruction. Arnold's planning application and a request from the Kissingen magistrate on August 27, 1869 to submit a floor plan and explanations from his neighbors indicate that Arnold's plans to convert or expand his studio; however, the outcome of this process is unknown. Arnold's student Valentin Weidner later took over the studio .

Arnold's first commission in Bad Kissingen was the erection of a tomb for the mayor Donat Fuß, who died in 1854. Supported by the Bavarian King Maximilian II Joseph , Arnold undertook study trips to Rome (1857) and to Paris and London (1858). A second trip to Rome followed from 1869 to 1870.

On October 2, 1861, Michael Arnold married Amalia Wedemayer (born September 21, 1821 in Celle ); the wedding took place in Hildesheim under cathedral chaplain Recke. On February 18, 1875, the Arnold couple in Bad Bocklet acquired the Bocklet No. 10 property, built in 1864 with the plots of Fl., From the widowed Regina Morck for 1,200 guilders . No. 10, the later "Villa Arnold".

In addition, Arnold even rented an apartment in Würzburg for a few months because of several larger orders . During this time Arthur Schleglmünig became his student. Later, Valentin Weidner (1874) and Balthasar Schmitt (1877, shortly before Arnold's death) as a student added.

On October 26, 1877, according to Balthasar Schmitt, Michael Arnold, who had always been ailing, died childless. The presence of his brother Johann Baptist Arnold, who lived in Würzburg and who reported the death to the Bocklet registry office, suggests that the sculptor had a short illness before his death. Valentin Weidner created the tomb for Michael Arnold; in 1899, Balthasar Schmitt created the "relief portrait en profile". Johann Baptist Arnold's son, Reg.-Assessor Philipp Arnold, handed over Michael Arnold's estate, which included models by the sculptor, to the city of Bad Kissingen.

estate

After assessment by Magistrate Gayde and on his recommendation on July 4, 1910, the city of Bad Kissingen applied for Arnold's estate in order to forestall Bad Neustadt an der Saale , which had also applied for the exhibits.

In order to realize the exhibition of Arnold's collection, which was expected to be more effective at the spa, an "Association for the Creation of a Historical Museum" was established. Initial plans to accommodate the estate in the municipal property at Salinenstrasse 4 failed; instead it was taken to the old synagogue on Bachstrasse , whose function has now been taken over by the newly built New Synagogue . The costs increased from 486 marks originally set by the city architect Husslein to 2,500 marks; the application for a grant of 1,000 marks by the bathroom commissioner failed.

On February 25 and March 4, 1911, a contract between Reg.-Assessor Dr. Philipp Arnold and the city of Bad Kissingen closed, as part of which Arnold gave the collection free of charge to the city of Bad Kissingen, which in return for the exhibition in the old synagogue, which was renovated on December 16, 1910, committed itself to permanent storage.

The city museum with the Arnold exhibition opened on April 23, 1911. Arnold student Balthasar Schmitt was entrusted with looking after the exhibits. On April 22nd, the day before the opening, the local “ Saale-Zeitung ” published a call to the citizens of Kissingen to send the museum information material for the Arnold exhibition.

The year 1927 marked a turning point, when the city council decided to demolish the old slaughterhouse next to the old synagogue after the construction of today's Bad Kissingen slaughterhouse . This project required a breakthrough between Bachgasse and Theresienstraße through the location of the old synagogue. The city council's decision to implement the breakthrough was made on October 7, 1927. According to Mayor Max Pollwein , the exhibits are only on loan because, according to Balthasar Schmitt, when a copy of the contract was handed over to Pollwein, they came from Michael Arnold's collection and are therefore his property found.

Despite the suggestion of Dr. Philipp Arnold to take the exhibits to Würzburg in the Martin von Wagner Museum or in the Luitpold Museum , and from City Builder Husslein to distribute them to the Upper Saline and the granary of the new slaughterhouse, the City Council Director of Studies Hess instructed the exhibits set up in the new storage room; use for school purposes was excluded.

City architect Hörold and director of studies Hess considered Arnold's work to be out of date and denied him any art-historical value. A report by Fritz Knapp from Würzburg , the holder of the chair for art history at the Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg and director of the Martin von Wagner Museum, formed the basis for the destruction of the pieces. After Balthasar Schmitt's appeal to save at least part of the estate, some models selected by Schmitt were placed in the Upper Saline , while models for religious works were sent to the diocese and the rest were placed in the slaughterhouse; Design drawings were kept in the secondary school. However, the model for the statue of King Maximilian II Joseph was destroyed .

The council minutes only provide information about the process up to 1928, so it is not clear what happened to the remaining plaster models after this time.

Works (selection)

  • Figure group of two gnomes at the Wichtelhöhlen near Bad Kissingen (considered lost)

literature

  • Werner Eberth : Michael Arnold. A sculptor of the late classicism . Theresienbrunnen-Verlag, Bad Kissingen 2001
  • Werner Eberth: An almost forgotten artist of the 19th century: memory of the sculptor and graphic artist Michael Arnold . In: "Würzburger Catholic Sunday Gazette", No. 148, page 29, Würzburg 2001
  • Hans Graetz: Michael Arnold - a Franconian sculptor (1824-1877) . In: “Mainleite” issue 1/1994, pages 25–31, Historischer Verein Schweinfurt eV (publisher), Schweinfurt 1994
  • Roswitha Friedel: Arnold, Michael . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 5, Saur, Munich a. a. 1992, ISBN 3-598-22745-0 , p. 228.

Web links

Commons : Michael Arnold (Sculptor)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The source group in Kissingen , in: " Illustrirte Zeitung ", Leipzig, 1857, no. 751
  2. ^ "Illustrirte Zeitung", Leipzig, 1857, No. 751
  3. ^ "Kissinger Saale-Zeitung ", February 5, 1878
personal data
SURNAME Arnold, Michael
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor, painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1824
PLACE OF BIRTH Aschaffenburg
DATE OF DEATH October 26, 1877
Place of death Bad Bocklet