Ludwig Kasper

Ludwig Kasper (2 May 1893 – 28 August 1945) was an Austrian sculptor.[1][2]

Biography

Kneeling Woman (1944)

Born in Gurten, Austria, on 2 May 1893,[1][2] Ludwig Kasper was the son of a farmer.[citation needed] He received artistic training as a sculptor in Hallstatt, Tyrol, as well as from the landscapist Toni von Stadler.[1] He studied with Hermann Hahn in Munich,[1][2] then in Paris (1928–29), and later in Greece (1936), with a scholarship, and in Italy, after winning the Rome Prize of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1939.[1]

Kasper worked in Berna, Silesia (1930–33), and in Berlin (from 1933).[1][2] This last period of creation was the most fertile for him.[citation needed]

His wife Ottilie (née Wolf;[citation needed] born 1906) was an artist;[1] they married in 1930.[citation needed] The couple formed part of the Klosterstrasse artists' group from 1933,[1] which also included Hermann Blumenthal, Werner Gilles, Werner Heldt, Käthe Kollwitz, Hermann Teuber and Herbert Tucholski.[3] Artists influenced by Kasper include Blumenthal and Gerhard Marcks.[1]

Between 1943 and 1944 or 1945, he taught sculpture at the School of Art of Braunschweig.[1][2] The bombardment of that city led him to return to Austria. He died on 28 August 1945 in Braunau[1] from kidney disease.

Works

Kasper's sculptures are Neo-Classicist in style, influenced by Adolf Hildebrand; they predominantly depict the human form, including standing, seated and walking figures.[2] Ursel Berger comments in his Grove Art Online biography that the "severe poses" make the figures appear "spellbound".[1] Kasper worked in various materials including bronze, plaster, terracotta and marble.[2] Significant works include Standing Girl (1931), Caryatid (1936), and Kore I and II (1937).[1]

A retrospective was held in Munich City Gallery in 1952.[2] His works were exhibited during Documenta 1 in 1955, the first in the series of Documenta exhibitions in Kassel.[citation needed] Some of his works are held at the Oberösterreichisches Landesmuseum, Linz.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Ursel Berger (2003). Kasper, Ludwig. Grove Art Online doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T045946
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Kasper, Ludwig. Benezit Dictionary of Artists (2011) doi:10.1093/benz/9780199773787.article.B00097327
  3. ^ Angela Schneider (2003). Heldt, Werner. Grove Art Online doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T037329