Richard Kissling

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Richard Kissling (born April 15, 1848 in Wolfwil SO ; † July 19, 1919 in Zurich ) was a Swiss sculptor and medalist . He is one of the most famous monument sculptors in Switzerland in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

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Richard Kissling (1848–1919) sculptor, medalist
Richard Kissling

After his apprenticeship as a plasterer , Kissling lived in Rome for 13 years , where he worked for the late classicist Swiss sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth in 1872/1873 and presumably also took over the studio after his return to Switzerland in 1874. Schlöth's influence is particularly evident in Kissling's early work, but also in the monument to Benedikt Fontana in Chur (1903).

In 1882 Frank Buchser painted an oil painting of Kissling as a soldier. At the national exhibition in Zurich in 1883 , the young and still little-known Kissling caused a sensation with a portrait bust of Alfred Escher . As a result, he was commissioned to build a monumental monument fountain by Escher in bronze and granite in front of the triumphal arch at Zurich main station . After its installation, he had his own workshop with a large studio built at Klausstrasse 10 / corner of Bellerivestrasse in Zurich's Seefeld .

His best-known work is the Tell monument in Altdorf . In Rizal Park in Manila his monument is to commemorate the Philippine national hero Jose Rizal .

In 1909, Kissling created portrait caricatures of Heinrich Angst , Johann Rudolf Rahn , Hans Konrad Pestalozzi and Zeller-Werdmüller for the weapons hall of the Swiss National Museum .

After that, Kissling was one of the most busy Swiss sculptors, although his classicist-heroic style was increasingly considered out of date in the last years of his life. After death, his fame quickly faded. The original plaster models of the Escher fountain are said to have been thrown into Lake Zurich . The draft for a national monument in Schwyz, which was made in original size around 1910 and ready for execution, fell victim to uncontrolled destruction after it was rejected by a jury.

Kissling was also the teacher of important sculptors, such as Hans Gisler (1889–1969) and Werner Friedrich Kunz (1896–1981). Around 1897 he and Ferdinand Hodler , Rudolf Koller , Albert Welti and others were part of the founding generation of the Zurich Artists' Association .

Kissling was Ernst Kissling's great-uncle . In 1905 the University of Zurich awarded him the title of Dr. hc awarded; he was also an honorary citizen of the city of Zurich and of Altdorf.

There has been a Richard-Kissling-Weg in Zurich's Fluntern district since 1935 .

Richard Kissling (1848–1919) sculptor, Tell monument, 1892
1892, Richard Kissling in the studio with Tell monument

He found his final resting place in the Sihlfeld cemetery .

Works and drafts

literature


Web links

Commons : Richard Kissling  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Kissling, Richard. Sculptor. Fully plastic figures and portrait busts. Memorial, relief and building sculpture. Main representative of Swiss sculpture in the early days. Swiss Institute for Art Research, accessed on October 4, 2015 .
  2. Monuments and Sculptures by Richard Kissling, pp. 386–401
  3. Stefan Hess : Between Winckelmann and Winkelried. The Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891). Berlin 2010, p. 65 f. and 70.
  4. ^ Stefan Hess, Stephan E. Hauser: Schlöth, Ferdinand. In: Sikart .
  5. 1882, Oelbild, Kissling as a soldier
  6. Werner F. Kunz: Does Richard Kissling's Werkhaus have to disappear? In: Tages-Anzeiger , No. 78, April 6, 1970.
  7. ^ Monument to José Rizal
  8. ^ Photograph of the monument to José Rizal
  9. 1909, portrait caricatures by Richard Kissling
  10. Werner F. Kunz: A masterpiece by Richard Kissling destroyed. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung , No. 592, March 18, 1951.
  11. ^ National monument in Schwyz
  12. ^ SIKART - Lexicon on Art in Switzerland. Swiss Institute for Art Research Zurich, accessed on November 25, 2015.
  13. www.kuenstlervereinigung.ch
  14. Erich Schenker: Richard Kissling. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . August 13, 2007 , accessed June 14, 2019 .
  15. ^ Website of Alt-Züri [1] , accessed on February 11, 2016.
  16. 1891, The Melchtal Group
  17. 1897, Medals of Honor for the Swiss Rifle Club
  18. Zeitgeist figure group
  19. Zeitgeist ,, fertility and hospitality
  20. Swiss National Monument in Schwyz