Former U.S. presidents Ronald Reagan and GeorgeBush plan to have placed in their memorial archives portrait bustswhich were modeled by the German sculptor Kurt Arentz. The busts,commissioned while these political leaders were still in office, arealready part of their collections. In thank-you notes to "Dear Kurt",both men expressed their satisfaction with the works and theiradmiration for the 62-year old artist.
"Men and animals are the central theme of mywork," said Arentz during an interview with the Associated Press inhis studio in Leverkusen. "To give artistic form to creation means toawaken responsibility for the preservation of creation." In additionto sculpting animals, Arentz has sculpted more and more of theso-called "higher animals" in the last 15 years. Included in the"Gallery of Leading Contemporaries" are portrait busts of Franz JosefStrauss, among others, which are now displayed in official places.The bust of Axel Springer in the Berlin Publishing House was alsodone by Arentz, as were the busts of conductors Herbert von Karajanand Leonard Bernstein. Both of the latter were acquired by the U.S.Museum of European Art in upstate New York.
A bust of Ulrike Meyfarth, two-time Olympic winnerin the high jump, also numbers among the works of Arentz, who seeksto combine realism with the abstract in his art. "In a portrait bust,the person portrayed should be recognizable in every respect," saysArentz. "Upon the real, I place the surreal, which allows me todepict the hidden essence of a human being." This is just asimportant with politicians as with other personalities. "Not just thegood side, but also the soul should be visible. This does not alwaysplease the model."
According to Arentz, numbering among his morepleasant models were, in addition to both U.S. presidents, formerGerman president Karl Carstens, SPD Chancellor Willy Brandt, SirPeter Ustinov and the Viennese painter Ernst Fuchs. "Germanpoliticians find it more difficult to let themselves be sculpted.They fear they will be criticized for showing off." Arentz considersthis fear unreasonable however. "What visual reminders do we havetoday of the first German chancellor Konrad Adenauer or the economicmiracle man Ludwig Erhard? Primarily the portraits which artists havepainted and sculpted.
The portait busts of Reagan and Bush have broughtArentz international acclaim as the "presidential sculptor". The"American affair" began already during the term of Chancellor HelmutKohl's predecessor Helmut Schmidt. The former SPD Chancellor bestowedupon Reagan a gift from the nation of a pair of bald sea eagles whichhad been bred by wildlife conservationist Horst Niesters at theHellenthal Game Preserve. This pair of threatened species wasreleased in a game preserve in the United States. Arentz sculptedthese eagles for the White House in Washington.
Another of Arentz's eagle sculptures wasultimately chosen as the ecological prize of the "InternationalCommittee of Artists for Ecology," which German foreign ministerKlaus Kinkel and committee president John Zavrel presented to theBritish heir apparent, Prince Charles. For the ecological prize ofthe Foundation for Environmental Studies, Arentz sculpted the"far-sighted falcon". One of these will soon be "flying" on the deskof former German foreign minister, Hans Dietrich Genscher.
At the suggestion of wildlife conservationist andtelevision writer Heinz Sielmann, Arentz sculpts animals threatenedwith extinction. "These small and large bronze sculptures are meantnot only to give joy to art lovers, but also to stimulateenvironmental awareness," says Arentz. In addition to his favoritesubjects of the bull, the horse and the owl, the Master has plans forsomething even bigger: a cycle of "man in the year 2000" for the turnof the century. "I cannot imagive anything in art more beautiful thanportraying over and over again man as he was created."
Several small sculptures -- bulls, eagles, andportraits -- by Kurt Arentz are on currently on display at the Museumof European Art, 10545 Main Street, Clarence, New York (USA). Alsotwo interesting books about the life and work of Kurt Arentz areavailable. Interesting information about Kurt Arentz can be alsofound on the World Wide Web at: http://www.meaus.com
Copyright 1999 Museum of European Art