 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| Fritz Klimsch 1870-1960 |
Fritz Klimsch, born in Frankfurt
February 10, 1870 and was offspring
of a generation of artists. At the age of
15 Klimsch decided to become a
sculptor. At 24 he received the Grand
State Prize of the Royal Academy of
the Arts in 1894. A long trip to Greece
confirms the influence of antique
statuary on him. He then produced
numerous busts: Sven Hedin,
Ludendorff, Liebermann, Max Planck,
Schlieffen...
He continued to refine his style after
1918 and mainly sculpted female
figures from mythology: Flora, Daphne,
Psyche, Nereide, which add even more
to his renown. Appointed professor in
the College of Fine Arts in Berlin
Charlottenburg; a position he held until
1934. He had many students who
became quite famous in their own right
to include the founder of the I.G.
Farben industry Carl Duisberg who
died in 1936.
Many of the drawings of Klimsch are
featured in Not Geld (the emergency
money of the great inflation of the
1920's). From 1934 through 1936 he
was supervisor of a Meister studio for
the sculptor at the Berlin Academy of
the Arts and later yielded his post to
Richard Scheibe in order to devote
himself entirely to his work and to the
orders that were rolling in. He did many
Third Reich sculptures such as
statuary for the Luftwaffe
Communications School and called it
Der Kämpfer in Wind und Sonne.
For the Ministry of Propaganda in
Berlin he did the statue
Beschaulichkeit. In 1939 for J.
Goebbel's property in the garden of
that ministry he did Brunnengruppe. In
1940 he did statuary for Ribbentrop's
Foreign Office gardens and many
others. In 1945, while his third son (he
lost his first two in WWI) was fighting at
the front, Klimsch left Berlin after a
bombardment which partially destroyed
his studio and moved to Saltzburg and
continued his work on various
monument projects. However, when
the American troops entered Salzburg
they plundered his new studio and
trashed most of his work.
February 10, 1870 and was offspring
of a generation of artists. At the age of
15 Klimsch decided to become a
sculptor. At 24 he received the Grand
State Prize of the Royal Academy of
the Arts in 1894. A long trip to Greece
confirms the influence of antique
statuary on him. He then produced
numerous busts: Sven Hedin,
Ludendorff, Liebermann, Max Planck,
Schlieffen...
He continued to refine his style after
1918 and mainly sculpted female
figures from mythology: Flora, Daphne,
Psyche, Nereide, which add even more
to his renown. Appointed professor in
the College of Fine Arts in Berlin
Charlottenburg; a position he held until
1934. He had many students who
became quite famous in their own right
to include the founder of the I.G.
Farben industry Carl Duisberg who
died in 1936.
Many of the drawings of Klimsch are
featured in Not Geld (the emergency
money of the great inflation of the
1920's). From 1934 through 1936 he
was supervisor of a Meister studio for
the sculptor at the Berlin Academy of
the Arts and later yielded his post to
Richard Scheibe in order to devote
himself entirely to his work and to the
orders that were rolling in. He did many
Third Reich sculptures such as
statuary for the Luftwaffe
Communications School and called it
Der Kämpfer in Wind und Sonne.
For the Ministry of Propaganda in
Berlin he did the statue
Beschaulichkeit. In 1939 for J.
Goebbel's property in the garden of
that ministry he did Brunnengruppe. In
1940 he did statuary for Ribbentrop's
Foreign Office gardens and many
others. In 1945, while his third son (he
lost his first two in WWI) was fighting at
the front, Klimsch left Berlin after a
bombardment which partially destroyed
his studio and moved to Saltzburg and
continued his work on various
monument projects. However, when
the American troops entered Salzburg
they plundered his new studio and
trashed most of his work.
| Galatea 1939 |
| Adolf Hitler (left) and with Gertrude Troost (right) at the inauguration of the House of German Art |
| In wind und Sonne 1941 (initially made for Goering's house) |
| Adolf Hitler during his speech at the inauguration of the House of German Art in July 1937 |