By Georges Raphall
By Georges Raphall
The classical figure „The Venturer" by Arno Breker was created in 1939. It was meant for Adolf Hitler's architecture in Berlin. Now a plaster cast of this representation of a man's figure from the Classical period is available for sale.
Paris (bpb) Works of the sculptor Arno Breker (1900-1991) are now available for sale in Paris. The auction house Delorme Collin du Bocage offers in its December 2008 auction two figueres: a larger-than-life work „The Venturer" (La Vie active) and the female representation „Eos". Both works can be seen in the magnificent pictorial volume „Arno Breker--a life for the Beautiful", which was published by the www.museum-arno-breker.org in the Grabert Verlag publishing company. The book's text is in English, French and German, and contains more than 500 photographs.
The Breker figures in plaster been finished with gold-colored patina. According to the information given by the auction house, these two collectors' pieces are from a private collection. Breker sold these sculptures during the Nazi times in Paris. Since the bronze or metal sculptures were exclusively reserved for Hitler's renovation of the Reich's capital Berlin, Breker made these plaster copies available for sale. This way, a good number of plaster sculptures have been preserved. According to the sculptor, the majority of his sculptures were destroyed in Berlin at the end of the war. The bronzes which were meant for Berlin had been cast in the foundry of Alexis Rudier in Paris, explained Breker's publisher Joe F. Bodenstein.
One of the most beautiful sculptures of a woman in the art of the 20th century: EOS by Arno Breker. The plaster cast of the original bronze will be auctioned in December in Paris. The model was a beautiful woman, who lived in 1940s in Europe.
The other figure which will be in the auction is the standing female figure „EOS" (1941-1942). It has been produced using the same technique, and is also covered in gold-colored patina. Breker got the idea for the golden patina from the bronze figures on the Trocadero in Paris. One can see there even today, in the year 2008, bronze sculptures with gold-plated patina. Hitler, Breker and Hitler's architect Albert Speer have visited the Trocadero during the German occupation of Paris.
An art collector from Paris reported before the auction that there is a still larger number of plaster casts of 'Breker's work from the Nazi times'. However, these are passed on between art collectors directly, since they wish to keep their privacy.
The pictorial volume, which covers all the creative periods of the artists, ititled 'Arno Breker--a life for the Beautiful', is availabe for sale in Europe from info@europaeische-kultur-stiftung.org and in USA from info@meaus.com
© PROMETHEUS 138/2008
PROMETHEUS, Internet Bulletin - News, Politics, Art and Science. Nr. 138, December 2008