Yvette Deseyve – författare

Gunther Gerlach, born in 1952, has forged a completely new direction in the long tradition of wood sculpture. This publication provides insight into a period of artistic creativity spanning 35 years and characterised by his total dedication to this living material.

Johann Gottfried Schadow’s Princess group has gone down in the annals of art history. As the first statue of two female historical personalities it testifies to the innovation, enormous artistry and productivity of sculpture workshops in the 19th century – a symbol of the important sculpture of German Classicism.In around 1800 Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764–1850) was the most famous artist in Prussia. More than most others he knew how to combine the outstanding position as court sculptor with entrepreneurial success and a steady bourgeois existence, and thereby to cultivate an international network. The artist himself modelled, drew, wrote art-theoretical treatises and was the head of the Berlin Academy, one of the most important art schools of the time. The monograph opens new perspectives onto the brilliant creativity of the great sculptor and his workshop.

Sculptures by two impressive artists, both inspired by Rodin, emerge from the shadow cast by their great role model: the works of Camille Claudel (1864–1943) and Bernhard Hoetger (1874–1949) paved the way for sculpture to enter the modern age. The artistic freedom of the avant-garde including the emerging Art Nouveau can be seen in new forms and ideals.What links the art of Claudel and Hoetger? Following their joint exhibition in 1905 in the Galerie Eugene Blot in Paris, a hub of the artistic avant-garde, this volume unites once more the works of the two artists some 120 years later. The lavishly illustrated publication presents the encounter between the two sculptors in the French art scene at the dawn of the modern age. Their experimentation with new materials and techniques enabled them to break out of the established patterns of artistic creativity.