DOI issue:
No. 74 (May 1899)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.19231#0312
Studio-Talk
BUST OF HIS HIGHNESS DUKE GEORGE II. OF
SAXE-MEININGEN BY ADOLF HILDEBRAND
The sculptor of the bust we reproduce here,
Adolf Hildebrand, occupies a unique position
amongst modern German artists. He has spent
many years in Italy, and until quite recently he
resided in Florence. There he studied the master-
pieces of antique and Renaissance sculpture as one
of a group of earnest fellow artists who, like him-
self, devoted themselves to solving the many
problems presented by plastic art. He gradually
won a marvellous purity of style and skill of tech-
nique, and has risen above the trammels of conven-
tion. His theories on the principles and practice
of his difficult profession have not only been illus-
trated in the productions of his chisel but also in
the little volume called " Das Problem der Form
in der bildenden Kunst " ("The Problem of Form
in Plastic Art "), which has done much to circulate
his artistic theories in his native land. His treat-
ment of the nude is a realisation of the ideal in the
real, as all feel who are familiar with his beautiful
creations. Amongst his finest works are the Statue
of a Youth, in the Berlin National Gallery; the
Sleeping Shepherd, in private possession at Munich ;
the Marsyas, owned by the Duke of Meiningen,
and the Luna, only quite recently completed. It
is impossible to praise these wonderful productions
too highly; they show the deepest knowledge of
human anatomy, and complete mastery over the
resources of sculpture. The fine Fountain at
Munich, designed by the same artist, is an example
of his skill in another direction, and it is remark-
able with what intuitive wisdom he has made his
design appropriate to the position it occupies. It
was this intuition into the fitness of things which
so greatly distinguished the masters of the Renais-
sance, and is, as a rule, so lamentably wanting in
the sculptors and architects of the present day,
who do not sufficiently consider the environment
forming the setting of their work.
In his portrait busts Adolf Hildebrand shows
the same rare judgment, realising alike the great
possibilities and the limitations of plastic art. They
are ideal presentments of the individuals they
represent, and, at the same time, they have a style
which distinguishes them from the productions of
any other sculptor. From the first the artist bears
in mind the material in which he has to work, and the
likenesses which result are not, so to speak, mere
photographs in clay more or less successfully worked
out in the more durable materials of bronze or
marble. There is absolutely nothing mechanical
about them ; they are as truly portraits as anything
EMBOSSED TIN-WARE DESIGNED BY RICHARD GROSS
EXECUTED BY L. L1CHTTNGER
287
BUST OF HIS HIGHNESS DUKE GEORGE II. OF
SAXE-MEININGEN BY ADOLF HILDEBRAND
The sculptor of the bust we reproduce here,
Adolf Hildebrand, occupies a unique position
amongst modern German artists. He has spent
many years in Italy, and until quite recently he
resided in Florence. There he studied the master-
pieces of antique and Renaissance sculpture as one
of a group of earnest fellow artists who, like him-
self, devoted themselves to solving the many
problems presented by plastic art. He gradually
won a marvellous purity of style and skill of tech-
nique, and has risen above the trammels of conven-
tion. His theories on the principles and practice
of his difficult profession have not only been illus-
trated in the productions of his chisel but also in
the little volume called " Das Problem der Form
in der bildenden Kunst " ("The Problem of Form
in Plastic Art "), which has done much to circulate
his artistic theories in his native land. His treat-
ment of the nude is a realisation of the ideal in the
real, as all feel who are familiar with his beautiful
creations. Amongst his finest works are the Statue
of a Youth, in the Berlin National Gallery; the
Sleeping Shepherd, in private possession at Munich ;
the Marsyas, owned by the Duke of Meiningen,
and the Luna, only quite recently completed. It
is impossible to praise these wonderful productions
too highly; they show the deepest knowledge of
human anatomy, and complete mastery over the
resources of sculpture. The fine Fountain at
Munich, designed by the same artist, is an example
of his skill in another direction, and it is remark-
able with what intuitive wisdom he has made his
design appropriate to the position it occupies. It
was this intuition into the fitness of things which
so greatly distinguished the masters of the Renais-
sance, and is, as a rule, so lamentably wanting in
the sculptors and architects of the present day,
who do not sufficiently consider the environment
forming the setting of their work.
In his portrait busts Adolf Hildebrand shows
the same rare judgment, realising alike the great
possibilities and the limitations of plastic art. They
are ideal presentments of the individuals they
represent, and, at the same time, they have a style
which distinguishes them from the productions of
any other sculptor. From the first the artist bears
in mind the material in which he has to work, and the
likenesses which result are not, so to speak, mere
photographs in clay more or less successfully worked
out in the more durable materials of bronze or
marble. There is absolutely nothing mechanical
about them ; they are as truly portraits as anything
EMBOSSED TIN-WARE DESIGNED BY RICHARD GROSS
EXECUTED BY L. L1CHTTNGER
287