Three Dancing Maidens
Three Dancing Maidens | |
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Artist | Walter Schott |
Medium | Bronze sculpture |
Location | Mecklenburg, Germany New York City, United States Antwerp, Belgium |
Three Dancing Maidens (German: Drei tanzende Mädchen) is a nymph fountain (Nymphenbrunnen) sculpture by Walter Schott. There are three full-size versions or castings of the bronze sculpture. One is known as the Untermyer Fountain in Central Park, New York, the second one is in Antwerp’s Den Brandt Park, and the third one is in the courtyard of the Burg Schlitz castle, a grand hotel in the Mecklenburg region of northern Germany. Identification of the original sculpture created for Rudolf Mosse in 1909, and later looted by the Nazi Party is the subject of research, which appears to be leading to the version in the Burg Schlitz castle.[1] Three-quarters scale castings, likely to be examples of the sculptor's early drafts, can be found in Germany, Austria, and Northern California.
Description
The bronze sculpture features three life-size young women dancing in a circle, their dresses wet and clinging to their bodies.[2] The girls have their fingers intertwined and gleeful expressions on their faces.[1] Dianne Durante, author of Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan, wrote that "it radiates delight, in a way few sculptures match, and there isn’t any point of view that doesn’t reveal some new, graceful aspect".[3]
History
Creation
Schott began the creation of Three Dancing Maidens towards the end of the 19th century, using girls from the local Berlin area as models. After numerous sketches, he made a model at a three-quarters scale followed by 36 more attempts. Despite all the work, he was unhappy with the project until he met Rudolf Mosse. Mosse, a wealthy and influential newspaper magnate in Berlin, spoke with Schott about his desire to have a fountain on the grounds of his residence on Leipziger Platz. The Mosse Palais was already home to a large collection of art and Mosse hoped to have a decorative fountain placed in the courtyard. The conversation inspired Schott who, as a perfectionist, worked on the design for several more years. The piece was finally installed in the early 1900s.[1]
There are three known full size castings of the finished sculpture and several three-quarters scale castings have also been found.[1][4] Two additional full-size copies were cast in 2003.
Ownership
When Rudolf Mosse died in 1920 his estate passed onto his daughter Felicia and her husband Hans Lachmann-Mosse, including the newspaper Berliner Tageblatt. The rise to power of the Nazi Party meant that a Jewish-run media empire was not viewed favourably. In 1933 Nazi officer Wilhelm Ohst arrived at the Mosse Palais and announced the imminent auction of all the artwork, including the fountain. The family fled, and the building was turned into Hans Frank's Academy for German Law. A photograph taken in 1940 shows the courtyard with a stone lion replacing Schott's sculpture.[1]
Many pieces of
There are currently three of the three-quarters size versions known from the 36 originally cast. One is in the rear garden of the Stauss Villa in Berlin-Dahlem.[5] Another, known as the Wurlitzer Fountain, can be found in a park in Burlingame, California[6] and another in a private park in the Austrian Alps.[1]
In 2003 two additional full-size copies were cast from molds taken from the Burg Schlitz version. One is on the grounds of Gondelsheim Castle in southwestern Germany, and the other is outside the E.ON administration building in Potsdam.[4][7]
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The Untermyer Fountain in New York.
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The fountain in Den Brandt Park, Antwerp.
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The fountain at the Burg Schlitz.
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A copy at Gondelsheim Castle.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Shaer, Matthew (June 2018). "The Lost Maidens of Berlin". Smithsonian. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ a b "Untermyer Fountain". Central Park Conservancy. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ Durante, Dianne (6 April 2018). "Untermeyer Fountain". ForgottenDelights.com. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ a b Diehl, Heidi (4 August 2007). "Drei tanzende Mädchen mit Zahnbelag" (in German). Neues Deutschland. Retrieved 3 June 2018.
- ^ "Residenz des Stadtkommandanten" (in German). Landesdenkmalamt Berlin. Retrieved 27 September 2022.
- ^ "Something to Dance About!" (PDF). The Record. No. 153. The Burlingame Historical Society. Winter 2018. p. 1. Retrieved 13 February 2024.
- ^ Ney, Heinz (2 November 2008). "Nicht nur in Potsdam – der Schott'sche Nympfenbrunnen" (in German). Neues von Ney. Retrieved 7 June 2018.