DOI issue:
Nr. 188 (November 1908)
DOI article:Studio-talk
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.20965#0176
Studio-Talk
dencies, generally speaking, he falls in accord.
Kraus was born on the 9th of July, 1868, in
Ruhrort, in the west of Germany, and was
first apprenticed to a decorative sculptor be-
fore he entered the Berlin Academy in 1888.
Three years later he became especial pupil of
Reinhold Begas, whom he assisted while at
work upon the Berlin “ National-Denkmal.”
He was successful in a State competition,
whereby he was enabled to travel to Rome in
pursuit of his studies. He returned from Italy
in 1905, and settled down at Grünewald, near
Berlin.
Dresden.—
August Kraus
belongs to
the younger
school of sculptors at Berlin,
where he has rapidly made
a name for himself side
by side with August Gau',
with whose artistic ten-
Kraus’s Boccia-player has come into posses-
sion of the Berlin National Gallery: for Shanghai
he created a monument to commemorate the
“ litis ” disaster : there is a monument of Admiral
Bronny in Berlin by his hand, and others at
Chemnitz, Kiel and Werdau. He is also re-
presented in the Berlin Sieges-Allee, that much-
discussed creation of Emperor William II. I
should say, however, that his finest work belongs
to another style of sculpture than these more or
less heroic, monumental efforts, and that his
bronzes, most of them of small dimensions, are
really what has given him his reputation among
connoisseurs.
In his treatment of the material, Kraus shows
traits in common with Gaul, as I have already
hinted. Both aim at a free, broad style, which
neglects detail as much as is compatible with a
generally naturalistic treatment. Resolution of the
multitudinous forms of nature into simplified
planes and surfaces is the basis from which both
“CAT WALKING” (BRONZE)
CHILD PLAYING” (BRONZE) BY AUGUST KRAUS
of line and harmony of colour which give them a
charming effect. There may be .many things in
these “ Kaiser ” cabins which must be classed as
unpractical, but nothing could be more graceful
than the white relief decoration of the walls on a
blue ground, and the beautiful inlay work on the
good solid mahogany furniture.
These commissions given by the North German
Lloyd hive opened up an entirely new and im-
portant field for German applied art. They are not
without significance also from a patriotic point of
view. Hitherto the only means which German
artist - designers have had of showing foreign
countries what they can do
has been at international
exhibitions. Now, their very
best creations, bearing the
impress of a strong indi-
viduality, are borne far and
wide across every sea
L. D.
BY AUGUST KRAUS
154
dencies, generally speaking, he falls in accord.
Kraus was born on the 9th of July, 1868, in
Ruhrort, in the west of Germany, and was
first apprenticed to a decorative sculptor be-
fore he entered the Berlin Academy in 1888.
Three years later he became especial pupil of
Reinhold Begas, whom he assisted while at
work upon the Berlin “ National-Denkmal.”
He was successful in a State competition,
whereby he was enabled to travel to Rome in
pursuit of his studies. He returned from Italy
in 1905, and settled down at Grünewald, near
Berlin.
Dresden.—
August Kraus
belongs to
the younger
school of sculptors at Berlin,
where he has rapidly made
a name for himself side
by side with August Gau',
with whose artistic ten-
Kraus’s Boccia-player has come into posses-
sion of the Berlin National Gallery: for Shanghai
he created a monument to commemorate the
“ litis ” disaster : there is a monument of Admiral
Bronny in Berlin by his hand, and others at
Chemnitz, Kiel and Werdau. He is also re-
presented in the Berlin Sieges-Allee, that much-
discussed creation of Emperor William II. I
should say, however, that his finest work belongs
to another style of sculpture than these more or
less heroic, monumental efforts, and that his
bronzes, most of them of small dimensions, are
really what has given him his reputation among
connoisseurs.
In his treatment of the material, Kraus shows
traits in common with Gaul, as I have already
hinted. Both aim at a free, broad style, which
neglects detail as much as is compatible with a
generally naturalistic treatment. Resolution of the
multitudinous forms of nature into simplified
planes and surfaces is the basis from which both
“CAT WALKING” (BRONZE)
CHILD PLAYING” (BRONZE) BY AUGUST KRAUS
of line and harmony of colour which give them a
charming effect. There may be .many things in
these “ Kaiser ” cabins which must be classed as
unpractical, but nothing could be more graceful
than the white relief decoration of the walls on a
blue ground, and the beautiful inlay work on the
good solid mahogany furniture.
These commissions given by the North German
Lloyd hive opened up an entirely new and im-
portant field for German applied art. They are not
without significance also from a patriotic point of
view. Hitherto the only means which German
artist - designers have had of showing foreign
countries what they can do
has been at international
exhibitions. Now, their very
best creations, bearing the
impress of a strong indi-
viduality, are borne far and
wide across every sea
L. D.
BY AUGUST KRAUS
154