Ludwig Gies
Ludwig Gies | |
---|---|
Born | Munich, Germany | 3 September 1887
Died | 27 January 1966 Cologne, Germany | (aged 78)
Nationality | German |
Known for | Sculpture, Medal engraving |
Ludwig Gies (3 September 1887 – 27 January 1966) was a German sculptor,
Life and work
1887 to 1918
Gies was born in
After Ludwig Gies finished at the Municipal Trade School halfway through his training at Winhart's, he attended, up until July 1907, the Royal School of Applied Arts (Königliche Kunstgewerbeschule) in Munich, where he learned chasing, enamelling, carving and ornamental modelling and figurative modelling with Fritz von Miller, Anton Pruska, Maximilian Dasio and Heinrich Waderé. The influence of Waderé, who introduced Gies to medal making, was particularly significant.
In the summer of 1906, after Gies had completed his studies at the Kunstgewerbeschule and at Winhart's, and had spent a few months in Mindelheim in order to learn how to work in copper, he was employed at Winhart's until 1908 as a chaser. In May 1908, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich (Akademie der Bildenden Künste München). Gies presumably studied sculpture there for four semesters until 1910.[6] The reasons why he so quickly abandoned his studies are unclear. There is evidence that in 1909 he was again working at Winhart's and also returned there in 1912 as a freelance artist. In the years to 1914, he began a stylistic self-discovery and won several awards, primarily for new developments in medal working. A collaboration with the Nymphenburg Porcelain Manufactory extended his capabilities of dealing with ceramics such as majolica. A ceramic furnace came out of the experience, which attracted attention at the Swiss National Exhibition, Berne, in 1914. Shortly afterwards, World War I broke out, in which Gies did not participate as a combatant for reasons of health but was conscripted for labour. In his works of this period, he distanced himself from patriotism and represented the suffering of war, which led to a partial censorship of his works.
1918 to 1945
On 28 August 1917, Bruno Paul, the head of the teaching institute of the
In Berlin, Gies led the class in die-cutting and modelling for goldsmiths and chasers, and from 1924, at the United State Schools for Fine and Applied Arts (Vereinigte Staatsschulen für Freie und Angewandte Kunst, now
Nevertheless, Gies also created for the 1935–1939 extension to the
1945 to 1966
After the end of World War II, he was active as a freelancer in Berlin. From 1950 to 1962, he was professor of sculpture at the Kölner Werkschulen (Cologne Academy of Fine and Applied Arts) and from 1953, an Honorary Member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich.[16][17]
Between 1959 and 1962, Gies designed the windows of the
Works
Ludwig Gies's works are characterized by low or
Gies became known mainly for two sculptures:
One was the crucifix in Lübeck Cathedral (1922), a larger than life-size woodcarving "strongly reminiscent of medieval devotional figures in distorted anguish",[23] which was held up as a typical work of degenerate art; its head having been chopped off and plunged in the Trave river.
The other is a vast mural relief of the Federal Eagle (1953, also known as the "Gies Eagle") – popularly known as "the Fat Hen" due to its slightly bouffant, almost circular overall outline. (The nickname itself was really derived from the German proper name of some variations of Sedum, called "Fetthenne[n]" or "Fette Henne[n]" in German, popular not only in German gardens and characterised by the fleshy, i.e. "fat", appearance of their leaves). It was to be seen in all the chambers used by the Bundestag and in modified form is still to be found hung at the front of the Plenary Hall of the Reichstag in Berlin.[24]
Gies is considered the founder of the Rhenish School of Medal Work. His last pupil was Wolfgang Reuter, whom he taught from 1961.[25] His successor in his teaching was Hanskarl Burgeff, whose students Agatha Kill, Lucia Hardegen and Hanspeter Dünwald are active in the third generation of the school.
Notes and references
- ^ Ernsting/Wedewer 1989, p. 7 and p. 19, note 8.
- ^ Ernsting/Wedewer 1989, p. 8 and p. 19, note 14: a personnel form completed in 1932 points to a Realschule (Archives of the Akademie der Künste Berlin, Gies File); Bruno Paul however refers to an eight-year primary school education (drafts of letters 1917, Archives of the Hochschule der Künste, Berlin, File U la Vol 7).
- ISBN 9783784571805. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Bayerische Numismatische Gesellschaft (1996). Jahrbuch für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte. Im Eigenverlag der Bayerischen Numismatischen Gesellschaft. p. 235. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Thiersch, Heinz; Riemerschmid, Richard (1953). Wir fingen einfach an: Arbeiten und Aufsätze von Freunden und Schülern um Richard Riemerschmid zu dessen 85. Geburtstag. R. Pflaum. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-3-364-00252-1. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Ernsting/Wedewer 1989, p. 11
- ^ British Art Medal Society (2001). The medal. British Art Medal Society. p. 96. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ a b Ernst Klee: Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 183.
- ISBN 978-0-7876-4073-6. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ISBN 3-931321-20-7
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-85415-3. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ISBN 3-7774-5880-5
- ISBN 978-0-948462-94-8. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Howoldt (1968), p. 170.
- ^ Kestner-Museum; Christel Mosel (1971). Kunsthandwerk im Umbruch: Jugendstil und zwanziger Jahre. tr. : Vandrey. p. 12. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-3-7701-1940-0. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Das Münster. Schnell & Steiner. 1966. p. 154. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ISBN 9783761614150. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ISBN 9783865601155. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-9506783-9-9. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ISSN 0024-3019. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-7190-3844-0. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ Max-Planck-Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Wettbewerbs- und Steuerrecht (2004). IIC: international review of intellectual property and competition law. Verlag C.H. Beck. p. 985. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
- ^ Kolberg, Gerhard; Schuller-Procopovici, Karin; Ludwig, Museum (1988). Skulptur in Köln: Bildwerke des 20. Jahrhunderts im Stadtbild. Museum Ludwig. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
Bibliography
- Ernsting, Bernd: Ludwig Gies. Meister des Kleinreliefs. Letter-Stiftung, Köln 1995, ISBN 3-930633-02-7
- Ernsting, Bernd, Wedewer, Rolf Wedewer (eds.): Ludwig Gies. Werke im Museum Morsbroich. Museum Morsbroich, Leverkusen 1989, ISBN 3-925520-22-8
- Ernsting, Bernd (ed.): Ludwig Gies 1887–1966. Leverkusen, Selbstverlag 1990, ISBN 3-925520-23-6
- Feldkirchen, Toni: Ludwig Gies. Bongers, Recklinghausen 1960
- Fischer-Defoy, Christine: Kunst Macht Politik. Die Nazifizierung der Kunst- und Musikhochschulen in Berlin, pp. 287ff. Elefanten Press, Berlin 1988, ISBN 3-88520-271-9
- Hoff, August: Plaketten und Medaillen von Ludwig Gies. Scherpe, Krefeld 1962
- Howoldt, Jenns Eric: Der Kruzifixus von Ludwig Gies in Der Wagen 1988, pp. 164–174. ISBN 3-87302-048-3
- Steguweit, Wolfgang: Hilde Broër. Bildhauerin und Medailleurin – Leben und Werk, pp. 15ff. Gebr. Mann, Berlin 2004, ISBN 3-7861-2490-6
External links
- Literature by and about Ludwig Gies in the German National Library catalogue (in German)
- Medaillen von Ludwig Gies im Interaktiven Katalog des Münzkabinetts der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin (in German)