Nikolaus Friedrich (sculptor)

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Nicholas Friedrich. Painting by Lovis Corinth (1904)

Nikolaus Friedrich (born July 17, 1865 in Cologne , † February 6, 1914 in Berlin ) was a German sculptor .

Life

Monumental: The tug of war at the Malakoffturm in Cologne

Born in Weiler as the son of the carpenter Hubert Friedrich and his wife Gertrud Friedrich, Nikolaus Friedrich spent his apprenticeship years in his hometown of Cologne, where he attended Wilhelm Albermann's lessons at the commercial drawing school. He then worked abroad for several years; so he worked from 1891 to 1893 in the creation of decorations for the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

When he returned, he continued his studies at the art academy in Berlin . In 1896 he also won the Rome Prize of the Prussian Academy of Arts there with a stay in the Villa Strohl-Fern in Rome, which was followed by further study trips to neighboring countries, to Italy, France and England.

From 1897 to 1901 Friedrich was a master student of Reinhold Begas , on whose sculptures he worked as a monument assistant, which initially determined his style. He was one of the first to follow the reorientation begun by Adolf von Hildebrand , away from neo-baroque and towards stylistic rigor. During this time, one of Friedrich's works was awarded a prize at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900. In the previous year he had already joined the Berlin Secession , founded in 1898 , in whose exhibitions he participated until 1911. In 1902 and 1905, the National Gallery in Berlin finally acquired two of his works. In 1904 his arch tensioner statuette was placed in front of the National Gallery . Museums in Cologne , Krefeld and Hagen acquired further works by Friedrich.

His works are characterized by a strong realism that is determined by a certain sense of beauty. He mostly depicted people naked.

Friedrich was portrayed twice by his friend, the painter Lovis Corinth . The second portrait from 1912, called The Sculptor , shows the artist in his studio, in which he is portrayed as the personification of the modern, contemporary sculptor.

Friedrich's tug of war , which he presented in 1908 at an exhibition of the “Association of Cologne Artists” in the Cologne Flora , was erected in 1911 as a monumental work, enlarged many times over, in Cologne's Rheinauhafen in front of the Malakoffturm .

Nikolaus Friedrich died in Berlin in 1914 at the age of 48 and was buried in Cemetery I of the Jerusalem and New Churches in front of the Hallesches Tor . The grave has not been preserved.

Works (selection)

Tug of war
  • 1897: Participation in the competition for the Wallraf and Richartz monuments in front of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, An der Rechtschule; awarded
  • 1898: falcon hunter
  • 1898: sandal maker. Statuette, bronze
  • 1900: girl with 2 cats
  • 1902: bronze statuette wrestler
  • 1902: ... whether the heart is still beating?
  • 1904: bow tensioner. statuette
  • 1908: Tug of war. Sculpture; Erected as a statue in 1911, shell limestone.
Dying Amazon
  • 1910: Dying Amazon. Marble statue (acquired around 1957 for the Frauenrosenhof in the Flora , since 2010 in the subtropical house)

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Landesarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen, civil status archive Rhineland, civil status register, registry office Cologne, births, 1865, document no.2503.
  2. ↑ a b Berlin life. Heft 6, 1902, urn : nbn: de: kobv: 109-1-5303876 , p. 94 (works and brief information on Nicolaus Friedrich digital.zlb.de ).
  3. ↑ PrAdK 0729. Studio rental in Rome for scholarship holders of the academy - reports on work, rent payment, etc. The following scholarship holders or guests in Rome: Nicolaus Friedrich 1896.
  4. ↑ Localanzeiger No. 83 of March 27, 1910.
  5. ↑ Catalog raisonné LC No. 524.
  6. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin burial places . Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86514-206-1 , p. 213.
  7. ↑ Stephan Anhalt, Gerd Baumbach (Ed.): The Cologne Flora, Festhaus and Botanical Garden, p. 185.
personal data
SURNAME Friedrich, Nikolaus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Friedrich, Nicolaus (alternative spelling)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH July 17, 1865
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne
DATE OF DEATH February 6, 1914
Place of death Berlin