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Description
‘Melodie’ (‘Melody’)
War-cast, 1941.
Cast created in 1941 by ‘Bildgießerei Hermann Noack’, Berlin. This foundry is still exhisting; mr. Noack junior confirmed that his foundry made this cast in 1941. Two other casts are known to exist (Noack only made this one), including a bronze one, which might have been the one displayed at the GDK 1941, room 30.
The sculpture is a ‘war cast’ created in zink. Because the German war industry needed bronze, casting in bronze was virtually prohibited in the Third Reich after 1939.
In the last decades less then 4 sculptures by Anton Grauel were sold by European auction houses.
‘Melodie’, X-ray photo (2017).
Anton Grauel, ‘Melodie’, displayed at the GDK 1941 room 30.
Left: ‘Melodie’, photo in possession of the hiers, displayed at the exhibition ‘Sonderausstellung zum 110. Geburtstag Anton Grauels’, Heimatmuseum Bad Soden-Salmünster, 2017.
Right: Anton Grauel in his Ateleir, Sinntal-Jossa, 1951. In the centre his work ‘Zuneigung’. At the background, right, a cast of ‘Melodie’.
Anton Grauel with a cast of ‘Melodie’, Sinntal-Jossa, 1946.
‘Melodie’ by Grauel, depicted in ‘Die Junge Dame‘, 10 March 1942.
‘Melody’ by Grauel, depicted in the ‘Fränkischer Kurier‘, Nürnberg, 27 July 1941.
| – condition | : II left arm restored |
| – size | : height 61 cm |
| – signed | : stemp of ‘H. NOACK BERLIN’ on base |
| – type | : war cast (zinc). Created in 1941 |
| – misc. | : confirmation by Noack that they have cast it in 1941 |
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BIOGRAPHY: ANTON GRAUEL
In 1938 Grauel completed his famous limewood triptychon ‘Friede, Tapferkeit, Gerechtigkeit’ (‘Peace’, ‘Courage’ and ‘Justice‘) a work which was commissioned by the Reichsluftfahrtministeriums (Ministry of Aviation) and destined for the officers’ mess of an airbase. In the same year he received -for this triptych which was 2.15 meters high- the Art Prize of the City of Berlin.
The triptych was put on display at the Great German Art Exhibition in 1938 room 2; depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Also depicted in:
– ‘Die Kunst im Dritten Reich’, 1937;
– ‘Volk und Welt, das deutsche Monatsbuch’, September 1938;
– ‘Westermanns Monatshefte’, 1939;
– ‘Das Bild’, and also on the cover, 1940;
– ‘Deutsche Holzschnitzerei der Gegenwart’, 1941;
– ‘Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland‘, 24 December 1941;
– ‘Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlande’, 22 February 1941;
– ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1942;
– ‘Neue Deutsche Bildschnitz-Kunst’, 1943;
– ‘Die Kunst im Dritten Reich’, by Reinhard Müller-Mehlis, 1976.
Left: part of the triptych ‘Friede, Tapferkeit, Gerechtigkeit’ depicted on the cover of ‘Das Bild’, 1940.
Right: the triptych depicted in ‘Das Bild’, 1940, Heft 3.
Grosse Deutsche Kunstausstellung, July 1938. Hitler after the opening celebrations, taking a tour through the Haus der deutschen Kunst. At the background, left, the triptychon.
Left: ‘Friede’ by Grauel depicted under the name ‘Gerechtigkeit’ in the ‘Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland‘, 24 December 1941. The text op top of the photo reads: ‘Der Gott, den Wir Verehren, -Bekenntnisse Deutscher Männer’ (‘The God we Worship, Confessions of German Men’).
Right: two parts of the triptych depicted in the ‘Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlande’, 22 February 1941.
Anton Grauel, ‘Kundgebung’ (‘Rally’). Relief created in Donaustein in 1939 for an airbase. Size 4,3 meter by 2,12 meter. Depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1942.
The ‘Kundgebung’-relief in the atelier of Anton Grauel, -likely the design.
Anton Grauel in his atelier, 1943. Left on the upper photo the relief ‘Neues Leben’ (‘New Life’), created in 1941, displayed at the GDK 1943, room 32.
Right: ‘Neues Leben’, created in ‘Untersberger Marble’. Depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1944 (‘1943, ausgeführt in Untersberger Marmor’). Size 104 x 63,5 cm. In private possession.
Below-left: Later, in May 1944, the same pictures were published (‘Visiting the Atelier of an Artist’) in a magazine issued by ‘Radio Romani’, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company, -the public radio broadcaster in Romania.
Rise or Fall of Nations?
‘Neues Leben’ by Grauel, depicted in the ‘Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland‘, 13 Juli 1943. The text on top of the photo reads: ‘Lebensfrage der Völker, -Untergang oder Aufstieg des Abenlandes?’ (‘Life Questions of Races, -Rise or Fall of Nations?’).
‘Neues Leben’ by Grauel was also depicted in ‘Germanische Reihe’, 3. Jahrgang Heft 3/4, 1943.
‘Neues Leben’, depicted in the magazine ‘NS-Frauen-Warte’, October 1943.
‘Kniende’ (‘Neeling Girl’) by Grauel, bronze, created in 1930, height 38 cm
‘Kniende’ was displayed at the:
– exhibition organised by ‘Kunsthandlung Victor Hartberg’ in Berlin, spring 1933;
– ‘Ausstellung Deutsche Plastik der Gegenwart’ in Warschau, 1938;
– exhibition of the ‘Preussische Akademie der Künste’, 1939;
– GDK 1943 room 38.
‘Kniende was depicted in:
– ‘Kunst und Künstler, eine Monatsschrift’, April 1933;
– ‘Die Kunst im Dritten Reich’, 1938;
– ‘Junge Bildhauer’, Rembrandt Verlag, 1939;
– ‘Deutsche Plastik der Gegenwart’, 1940.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Kniende’ (‘Neeling Girl’), bronze. Displayed at the GDK 1943, room 38 (on the right side of this photo: ’Erhebung’ or ‘Elevation’).
Right: ‘Kniende‘, depicted in ‘Deutsche Plastik der Gegenwart’, 1940.
Left: ‘Kniende’by Grauel, depicted in ‘Kunst und Künstler, eine Monatsschrift’, April 1933.
Right: ‘Kniende’ by Grauel. Location: the atelier of Grauel in Berlin, 1943.
Anton Grauel, ‘Erhebung’ (‘Uprising’), bronze, created 1939, height 82 cm. Displayed at the GDK 1941, room 28. Again displayed at the ‘Grosse Berliner Kunstausstellung’, 1940, and at the ‘Herbst-Ausstellung 1942’, Preussische Akademie der Künste.
Depicted in ‘Deutsche Plastik Unser Zeit’, Kurt Lothar Tank, 1942 (Raumbild-book).
Middle and right: ‘Erhebung’, bronze, in private possession.
‘Erhebung’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Werbung’ (‘Proposal’), marble. Created in 1927 at the Städel Institut of Art in Frankfurt. The sculpture, located in his atelier, was destroyed during a bombing of Berlin in August 1943.
Right: ‘Werbung’ depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1944.
Anton Grauel, ‘Kriegerdenkmal in Bad-Soden’ (World War I Memorial in Bad-Soden), 1930. A young man from Bad Soden stood as a model for the bronze sculpture.
Anton Grauel, ‘St. Barbara‘, created in lindenwood in 1936 (Lindenholz), height 101,6 cm. Commissioned by the Ministery of Aviation (‘Im Auftrag des Reichsluftfahrtministeriums‘).
Left: depicted in ‘Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1939.
Saint Barbara was an early Christian saint and martyr. She is often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower. As one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, Barbara continues to be a popular saint in modern times, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers, miners and others who work with explosives because of her old legend’s association with lightning, and also of mathematicians.
Right: ‘St. Barbara’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Anton Grauel, ‘Bogenschütze‘ (‘Archers‘), basswood relief, created in 1938. Size 180 x 170 cm., ‘Im Auftrag des Reichsluftfahrtministeriums‘ (‘commissioned by the Ministery of Aviation’). Placed at a Luftwaffe base (‘In einem Standort der Luftwaffe’).
Depicted in:
– ‘Volk und Welt, das deutsche Monatsbuch’, September 1938;
– ‘Westermanns Monatshefte’, 1939;
– ‘Das Bild’, January/February 1940;
– ‘Die Kunst für alle’, on the cover, 1940;
– ‘Deutsche Holzschnitzerei der Gegenwart’, on the cover, 1941;
– ‘Neue Deutsche Bildschnitz-Kunst’, 1943;
– ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1943.
Left: ‘Bogenschüzte’, depicted on the cover of ‘Die Kunst für alle’, 1940.
Right: ‘Bogenschütze’, depicted on the cover of ‘Deutsche Holzschnitzerei der Gegenwart’, 1941.
Left: ‘Bogenschütze’, depicted in ‘Westermanns Monatshefte’, 1939.
Right: ‘Bogenschütze’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel). Berlin, around April 1938.
Anton Grauel, ‘Die Wächter’ (‘The Guards’). Reliefs created in untersberger marble for an airbase. Depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1942.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Sieger’ (‘Victor’), bronze, height 70 cm, created in 1935. GDK 1938, room 8. Bought by Hitler for 1.600 Reichsmark and placed in the Neue Reichskanzlei.
Right: ‘Sieger’ located in the Neue Reichskanzlei (close up).
Below: ‘Sieger’ in the Neue Reichskanzlei. Depicted in Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1939. The text below the photo reads: ‘Verbindungshallen im Westlichen Verwaltungsbau, Voss Strasse 6’ (hall in the west-part of the Reichskanzlei).
‘Der Sieger’, also displayed at the ‘Kunstausstellung’ des Amtes Feierabend der NS-Gemeinschaft Kraft durch Freude, für die Betriebe des Deutschen Verlages, 2 – 31 December 1937, Berlin; depicted in the exhibition catalog (this was an exhibition for the employees of the companies of Deutsche Verlag, the in 1937 aryanised Verlag Ullstein).
What happened to the art Hitler purchased at the Great German Art Exhibitions?
With his insatiable passion for collecting art, Hitler was the most important purchaser of works from the GDKs. Every year, several times, he visited the Haus der Deustchen Kunst. From 1937 to 1944 he bought in total 1316 works at the GDKs.
Hitler’s mass art purchases were mostly undertaken without a plan regarding the future location of the works. He only had a specific usage in mind from the start for a few of these works of art. The majority of the paintings and sculptures acquired at the GDKs faced an uncertain future. They were stored at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst until further notice (some were eventually taken to the Führerbau).
Below we describe the fate of a limited number of artworks which were – as an exception- given a special destination by Hitler:
1. 144 paintings, sculptures and graphic works were bought by Hitler in 1938; they were transported to Berlin and placed in the Neue Reichskanzlei under construction, which was completed in January 1939. The list of 144 works (in our possession) is not exhaustive. Hitler did buy more works at the GDK in 1938, and in later years, which were also placed in the Reichskanzlei (like ‘Sieger’ by Anton Grauel).
2. In 1939 Hitler gave 10 works of art to the Jagdmuseum in Munich: works by Carl von Dombroswki, Ludwig Eugen, Felix Kupsch, Friedrich Reimann (5), Karl Wagner and Renz Waller.
3. A few pieces were used to decorate Hitler’s various offices and private residences; for example, Adolf Ziegler’s ‘Die Vier Elemente’ was famously placed over the fireplace in a salon of the Führerbau in Munich.
4. In April 1943 Hitler had 21 paintings from the GDK delivered to his Munich apartment in the Prinzregentenstrasse. This delivery included works by Anton Müller-Wischin, Franz Xaver Wolf, Freidrich Schüz, Hermann Urban, Ludwig Platzöder, Sep Happ and Sepp Meindl.
5. In 1939 Hitler bought two works, explicitly meant for his own personal use: ‘Beethoven’ by Josef Jurutka and ‘Bauernkrieg’ by Franz Xavier Wolf.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Mutter und Sohn’ (‘Mother and Son’). Displayed at the ‘Ausstellung Berliner Kunst’, Am Königsplatz, 1935. Depicted in the official exhibition catalogue.
Right: Anton Grauel, ‘Menschenpaar’ (‘Couple’). Depicted on the cover of ‘Die Kunstkammer, Illustrierte Monatszeitschrift mit amtlichen Mitteilungen’, isued by the ‘Reichskammer der Bildende Künste’ (‘Reichchamber of Visual Arts’), Februar 1936.
Anton Grauel, ‘Mutter‘ (‘Mother’), created in 1943 in stone ‘for the NSV Gauleitung Königsberg’. Height 2,20 meter. Depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1939, Heft 3 (‘Ausführung in Stein’). Also depicted in ‘Junge Bildhauer Unsere Zeit‘, Kanter-Bücher, 1940, in ‘Mortimer G. Davidson, Art in Germany 1933 – 1945‘ and in ‘Westermanns Monatshefte’, 1939.
A plaster cast of ‘Mutter’, also 2,20 meter high, was displayed at the GDK 1939 room 2. A year later the plaster cast ‘Mutter’ was again displayed at the Herbst-Ausstellung der Preussische Akademie 1940; it was given a place of honour in front of all the guests, at the opening of the exhibition on 26 October 1940.
Left: ‘Mutter’, created in stone ‘for the NSV Gauleitung Königsberg’. Depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1939.
Middle: ‘Mutter’, created in stone ‘for the NSV Gauleitung Königsberg’. Depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1944.
Right: ‘Mutter’, by Grauel, depicted in ‘Zucht und Sitte‘, Folge III, 1943.
‘Mutter’ by Grauel, depicted in the ‘Innsbrucker Nachrichten’, 17 July 1939.
Left: the stone-sculpture of the ‘NSV Gauleitung Königsberg’, photographed in 1943.
Right: a cast of ‘Mutter’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
A bronze cast of ‘Mutter’ by Grauel, 88 cm height. In private possession.
‘Mutter’, plaster cast, again displayed at the Herbst-Ausstellung der Preussische Akademie 1940; it was given a place of honour in front of all the guests, at the opening of the exhibition on 26 October 1940. Left: Arthur Kampf holding the opening speech of the exhibition.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Ausschauende‘ (‘Looking out‘), created 1938. GDK 1938, room 6. Bronze, height 74,5 cm. Depicted in ‘Junge Bildhauer Unsere Zeit‘, Kanter-Bücher, 1940 and in ‘Die Kunst im Dritten Reich’, 1938. Also displayed at the ‘Frühjahrs-Ausstellung, Preussische Akademie der Künste’, 1939.
Right: ‘Ausschauende’ by Grauel, depicted in the ‘Deutsche Zeitung in den Niederlande’, 8 August 1940.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Frauen am Meer‘ (‘The Bathers‘), created in 1940. Limewood, 79 x 53 cm. Displayed at the ‘Herbst-Ausstellung’ of the Preussische Akademie der Künste, 1940, Berlin; and at the exhibition ‘100 Jahre Verein Berliner Kunst’, May/June 1941, Berlin. Depicted in the exhibition catalogue.
Also depicted in ‘Mortimer G. Davidson, Kunst im Deutschland 1930 – 1945‘, and in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1942.
Right: ‘Frauen am Meer’, in private possession.
‘Frauen am Meer’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Anton Grauel and Aristide Maillol
In his 2015-dissertation ‘Germany and Maillol’, Dr. Ger Jacobs (University of Leiden), discussed the influence of Aristide Maillol on sculpture in the first half of the 20th century in Germany, including the Third Reich period. One of his conclusions was that especially the group Klimsch, Grauel, Breker, Bronisch and Agricola, frequently copied Maillol’s compositions and motifs.
Jacobs compares Grauels’ relief ‘Frauen am Meer’ to Aristide Maillol’s ‘La Vague’: ‘The wooden relief of Frauen am Meer from 1940 is one of the examples where the influance of Maillol is quite visible. Bathing Women at the beach were, at the end of the 19th century, one of Maillol’s favourite motives……The models Grauel has depicted in his relief, are very similar to the bathing women by Maillol. The large standing woman looks like Maillol’s Grande Baigneuse and the sitting woman is very similar to La Vague…..the women by Grauel have the same robust posture and firm constitution…’.
‘Frauen am Meer’ by Anton Grauel, and ‘La Vague’ by Aristide Maillol, both depicted and described in ‘Germany and Maillol’, dissertation of Dr. Ger Jacobs, 2015, University of Leiden (NL).
Left: ‘Frauen am Meer’, 1940, by Anton Grauel
Right: ‘La Vague’, 1898, by Aristide Maillol
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Männer in Übung‘ (‘Athletes‘), created in 1940. Displayed at the ‘Herbst-Ausstellung’ of the Preussische Akademie der Künste, 1940, Berlin. Depicted in ‘Mortimer G. Davidson, Kunst im Deutschland 1930 – 1945‘, in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1942, and in ‘Deutsche Plastik Unser Zeit’, Kurt Lothar Tank, 1942 (Raumbild-book). Size 79 x 53 cm.
Right: Anton Grauel, ‘Drachenkämpfer’ (‘Dragon Slayer’). Photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Anton Grauel, ‘Zuneigung‘ (‘Affection‘). GDK 1940, room 38. Bronze, height approx. 90 cm. Also displayed at the ‘Frühjahrs-Ausstellung 1941’, Preussische Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
Left: ‘Zuneigung’ depicted in ‘Junge Bildhauer Unsere Zeit‘, Kanter-Bücher, 1940.
Middel and right: ‘Zuneigung’, bronze, in private possession.
Left: ‘Zuneigung’ displayed in November 1952 at the exhibition ‘ANTON GRAUEL, -sculptures and drawings, and ELS GRAUEL, -watercolours and graphic’, the Rockford Art Association, Rockford, Illinois.
Right: ‘Zuneigung’ depicted in the ‘Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung’, Berlin, December 8, 1940.
‘Zuneigung’ by Grauel, depicted in the weekly newspaper ‘Das Reich’, 25 May 1941. The text below the photo reads: ‘Aus der Frühjahrs-Ausstellung der Preussische Akademie der Künste in Berlin’ (‘From the Spring-Exhibition of the Prussian Academy of Art in Berlin’).
Anton Grauel with a cast of ‘Melodie’, Sinntal-Jossa, 1946. A bronze cast of Melodie was displayed at the GDK 1941 room 30.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Ausblickende‘ (‘Looking‘). GDK 1942, room 25. Depicted in ‘Mortimer G. Davidson, Kunst im Deutschland 1930 – 1945‘.
Right: ‘Ausblickende’ depicted in ‘Junge Bildhauer’, Rembrandt Verlag, 1939; also depicted in ‘Deutsche Plastik Unser Zeit’, Kurt Lothar Tank, 1942 (Raumbild-book).
Left: ‘Ausblickende’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Right: ‘Ausblickende’, bronze, height approx. 38 cm. In private possession.
‘Abend’
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Abend’ (‘Evening’), displayed under the name ‘Wieczor’ at the exhibition ‘Deutsche Bildhauer der Gegenwart’, Krakow, 1938. Depicted in the official exhibition catalogue.
Right: Anton Grauel, ‘Abend’, bronze. GDK 1937, room 38; depicted in the exhibition catalogue. Also depicted in ‘Die Kunst im dritten Reich’, 1937.
‘Abend’ by Grauel, bronze. Size 27 x 47 cm. Signed ‘A. GRAUEL’. In the possession of the Berlin Nationalgalerie.
It’s is unclear if this is the same figure as ‘Liegende’, displayed at the exhibitions ‘Ausstellung Berliner Kunst 1935’ and ‘Berliner Bildhauer von Schlüter bis zur Gegenwart‘, Preussische Akademie der Künste Berlin, 1936.
Anton Grauel, ‘Hockendes Mädchen‘ (‘Kneeling Girl‘), 1933. Signed ‘A. GRAUEL’. Height 51 cm. In the possession of the Berlin Nationalgalerie.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Mädchenbildnis’ (‘Portrait of a Girl’). Depicted in the ‘Illustrirte Zeitung, Leipzig’, December 1937, and again in ‘Das Bild’, 1940. The girl who stood model was named Traudi Baumgart from the city of Kassel.
Right: Anton Grauel, ‘Wendelin von Siemens’ (1919 – 2012), created in 1929. Life-size, marble.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Erwachen’ (‘Waking Up’). Depicted in ‘Die Kunstkammer’, 1935. A bronze copy was displayed at the GDK 1939, room 20.
Right: Anton Grauel, ‘Kniende’ (‘Kneeling’), displayed at the exhibition ‘NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, Kunsthalle Hamburg, 1938 (organized in co-operation with Amt Rosenberg). Depicted in the official exhibition catalogue.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Zwei Menschen’ (‘Two Persons’). Signed ‘Jossa, 1944’. Size approx. 55 cm high. Likely mahogany-wood. In private possession.
A photo of this releif was displayed at the exhibition ‘Sonderausstellung zum 120. Geburtstag Anton Grauels’, Heimatmuseum Bad Soden-Salmünster, 2017.
Middle and right: ‘Zwei Menschen’ photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Heinrich Himmler commissioned Grauel to create a life-size cast of ‘Liebende’ for the Wewelsburg
In 1944 Heinrich Himmler commissioned Anton Grauel to create a life-size cast of ‘Liebende’ for the Wewelsburg, the Renaissance castle located in the village of Wewelsburg (Westphalia), which was used after 1934 by the SS and was to be expanded into a complex acting as the central SS cult-site.
Himmler had seen a piece by Grauel in a Danish magazine and asked the artist to re-create it, -with the chin of the figure slightly altered. Grauel seems to have refused.
Sources:
1. document BArch NS 19/3086 in the files of the Bundesarchiv: ‘..in 1944 the ‘Persönliche Stab Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’ ordered to buy the sculpture ‘Liebende’ by Anton Grauel’.
2. ‘Art as Politics in the Third Reich’, Jonathan Petropoulos: ‘BAK, NS19/3086, documents from 3 July 1944 to 9 march 1945. Specifically, Brandt to Berger, 23 August 1944, notes, “The Reichsführer-SS asks you to issue a commission to the sculptor Grauel to finish the sculpture The Loving One (‘Liebende’). He whishes, however, that the protruding chin of the man be slightly altered.”’
Anton Grauel, ‘Liebende’ (‘Lovers’). GDK 1942, room 6. Depicted in ‘Kunst dem Volk’, 1942, as well as on numerous postcards.
Two versions of ‘Liebende’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Left: executed in wood.
Right: likely executed in plaster.
Anton Grauel, ‘Weibliche Gestalt’ (‘Female Figure’). Depicted in ‘Westermann’s Monatshefte’, August, 1939.
Anton Grauel, ‘Liegende’ (‘Laying’), bronze, signed 1930. Lenght 40 cm. Likely the mother of the artist stood model for this sculpture. In private possession.
Left: Anton Grauel and his wife in Frankfurt, September 1929. Right at the back, the sculpture ‘Jugend’ (‘Youth’), created in 1927.
Middle: Anton Grauel, ‘Jugend’, depicted in ‘Westermann’s Monatshefte’, August, 1939, under the name ‘Knabe’ (‘Young Man’).
Right: ‘Youth’, bronze, height 57 cm. Sold by a German auction house in 2017.
Left: Anton Grauel, ‘Der Hüter’ (‘The Guard’). Bas-relief, created in lime-wood (Lindenholz), 1942. Size 100 x 84 x 12 cm. Depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1943.
Right: ‘Der Hüter’, in private possession (surface coated). A photo of Der Hüter was displayed at the exhibition ‘Sonderausstellung zum 120. Geburtstag Anton Grauels’, Heimatmuseum Bad Soden-Salmünster, 2017.
‘Der Hüter’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Left: ’Speerwerfer’ (‘Spearthrowers’), created in 1938. Designed for the Entrance Hall of a Standort der Luftwaffe.
The bronze belonged to the 50 art works ‘Saved from Berlin Bombs’, and brought in 1952 to the USA (see below). A photo of the relief was displayed at the exhibition ‘Sonderausstellung zum 120. Geburtstag Anton Grauels’, Heimatmuseum Bad Soden-Salmünster, 2017.
Right: ‘Speerwerfer’, depicted in ‘The Beloit Daily News’, May 21, 1952, Wisconsin.
Below: ‘Speerwerfer’, bronze, 61 x 53 cm. In private possession.
Left: ‘Speerwerfer’, located at the Entrance Hall of a Standort der Luftwaffe. Depicted in ‘Die Neue Linie’, July 1938 (‘Die Neue Linie’ was a German lifestyle magazine inspired by Bauhaus, but tolerated by the Nazi’s).
Right: ‘Speerwerfer’, photographed by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Anton Grauel, ‘Ausschau‘ (‘Looking Out‘).
Left: photo in the archives of the RSG-Reichsbildarchiv.
Right: ‘Ausschau‘, published in the ‘Westfalische Neueste Nachricht, Bielefeld‘, 19 April 1942.
Anton Grauel, ‘Jungmann’ (‘Young Man‘), depicted in ‘Junge Bildhauer Unsere Zeit‘, Kanter-Bücher, 1940.
Anton Grauel, ‘St. Georg’, stone figure. Currently in the possession of a German museum. Height 120 cm. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Sonderausstellung zum 120. Geburtstag Anton Grauels’, Heimatmuseum Bad Soden-Salmünster, 2017.
‘St. Georg’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Left: Anton Grauel,’Neues Leben’. Limewood, height 100 cm. Depicted in ‘Neue Deutsche Bildschnitz-Kunst, Erich Sperling, ‘1943. At that time in the possession of the NSV. Gauleitung Königsberg. Also depicted in ‘Der Holz- und Steinbildhauer’, 1943.
Right: Anton Grauel’, ‘Mutter mit Kind’ (‘Mother witch Child’), plaster. Size app. 30 cm. Photo displayed at the exhibition ‘Sonderausstellung zum 120. Geburtstag Anton Grauels’, Heimatmuseum Bad Soden-Salmünster, 2017.
Anton Grauel, ‘bust of Professor Kurt Thomas’, signed 1946. According to the New York Times, 1973, the most respected choral conductor in Germany:
New York Times, April 2, 1973
BAD OEYNHAUSEN, West Germany
Prof. Kurt Thomas, who directed the choir of the Church of St. Thomas in Leipzig from 1957 to 1960 and subsequently taught at conservatories in Hamburg and Lubeck, died today after having undergone surgery. He was 69 years old.
Professor Thomas had established his reputation as perhaps the most respected choral conductor in Germany, when he was invited to return to Leipzig as the 17th cantor, or choirmaster, in the tradition established at the church by Johann Sebastian Bach. He was a graduate of the Leipzig Conservatory, where he remained to teach from 1925 to 1934. Subsequently the taught for five years at the Berlin Hochschule fur Musik and six years during World War II at the Frankfurt Conservatory. In 1947 he was made a professor at the new Northwest German Conservatory in Detmold, where his reputation reached its height. Professor Thomas came to New York in 1956 to conduct the Cantata Singers in Bach’s Passion According to St. John. His return to Leipzig in East Germany began auspiciously, particularly for the eighty highly selected boys. aged 10 to 12, who received a full‐time education as part of membership in the choir. But three years later Mr. Thomas announced in Hamburg that he was leaving the post because he could not get along with the Communist‐controlled City Council in Leipzig. It was said later that he objected to performance of music other than church music by the choir, and to the attempt to desecularize the school in such ways as ending the tradition of grace before meals.
Left: the ‘Bust of Thomas’ by Grauel depicted in the ‘Kasseler Post’, April 1957.
Middel: the bust photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Right: photo of the bust, signed 1946, in private possession.
Anton Grauel, ‘Liegende’ (‘Reclining Girl’), bronze. Created in 1929. Length 30 cm.
‘Liegende’ by Grauel. Displayed at the ‘Herbst-Ausstellung’ der Preussische Künste, 1929. Depicted in the exhibition catalog. Again depicted in ‘Kunst und Künstler’, Monatsschrift für Bildende Kunst, Berlin, December, 1929.
Four different casts of ‘Mother with Child’. All photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
Anton Grauel, ‘Mutter und Kind’ (‘Mother and Child’), created in oak wood. This is the last work which Grauel created in Germany/ Jossa.
Left: ‘Mutter und Kind’, published in the ‘Heimat Kalender Kreis Schlüchtern’, 1925%.
Right: ‘Mutter und Kind’, photographed in his atelier by Anton Grauel (photo collection from the heirs of Anton Grauel).
‘Saved from Berlin Bombs, 50 Art Works by Grauel Arrive in the USA’.
The Beloit Daily News, May 21, 1952.
Anton Grauel, ‘Exhibition Sculptures and Drawings’, 1952, Wright Gallery, Beloit, Wisconsin.
Anton Grauel, ‘Seat of Wisdom’, created in 1964. Indiana limestone. Commissioned by the Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. Located at the campus of the University.
Left: Grauel at work; photo taken at April 18, 1964.
‘Our Lady of Marquette, -looking over us for 60 years’
Anton Grauel, ‘Our Lady of Marquette’, statue of the Blessed Virgin, 1957, created in Indiana limestone. Height six foot. Carved for the Marquette Catholic High School, Alton, Illinois (ex Alton Catholic High School). Grauel worked three months on the half-ton figure.
Left: the Marquette Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic High School, established in 1927 by the Ursuline Sisters. The Statue is on their website with the following text:
‘LOOKING OVER US FOR 60 YEARS’
‘Our Lady has silently watched over the students and staff of Marquette for 6o years. For years she stood in the outdoor garden off the gym. Only recently with the addition of the Commons, has she moved indoors and been situated in a place of honor in front of a beautiful mural backdrop created by alum, Jeffrey Vaughn, Class of 1971, titled Pere Marquette Autumn Vista, 2012. The artist, Anton Grauel, a German sculptor, created our statue of The Lady to stand strong to convey a potent message for modern youth. She stands strong and timelessly youthful while her folded hands enveloping mantle seem to counsel. Our Lady of Marquette brings peace to those who need it and will continue to stand strong and lend guidance to those who walk by her for years to come.
Middle: Anton Grauel stands beside his work; published in ‘The Milwaukee Sentinel‘, 5 December 1957.
Right: ‘Our Lady of Marquette’, published in the ‘Catholic Herald Citizen’, May 10, 1958.
Anton Grauel, ‘Die Auswanderer’ (‘Emigrants’), 1925%, plastermodel. The photo is depicted in the book ‘Bad Soden-Salmünster, Beiträge zur Geschichte der Stadtteile’, 1983, Chapter ‘Anton Grauel’, by Dr. Georg-Wilhelm Hanna.
Anton Grauel, ‘Pentecost’ (‘Pfingsten), created in 1958 in white pine wood. Carved panel commissioned by the Moreau Seminary, University of Notre Dame. Placed in the Holy Ghost Chapel.
Left: ‘Pentecost’, photo made by Anton Grauel.
Middle: ‘Pentecost’ depicted in the ‘Chatholic Herald Citizen’, 7 December 1957.
Right: ‘Pentecost’ depicted in the Catholic Journal ‘Ave Maria’, September 23, 1961.
Anton Grauel, ‘Holy Night’ or ‘Nativity’, created in 1953 in mahogany wood with frame of oak. Life size wood carving.
Depicted in ‘The Beloit Daily News’, December 24, 1953, and twelve years later in the ‘El Sugundo Herald’ of December 23, 1965.
Left: the carving depicted in the the ‘El Sugundo Herald’ of December 23, 1965;
Right: photo of the original carving taken in the atelier in Beloit (Wisconsin), 1957;
Below: ‘Holy Night’ depicted in ‘The Beloit Daily News’, December 24, 1953.
Anton Grauel, 14 stone panels at the ‘Fine Arts Building’, Faculty of Arts, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas. The panels depict the arts of Drama, Music and Art. Created in 1959.
Anton Grauel, photo of January 1939.
Anton Grauel, and his second career in the US
Anton Grauel (1897–1971), born in Bad Soden near Frankfurt, came from an old artisan family from the Electorate of Hesse. In 1911, at the age of 14, Grauel began an apprenticeship as a woodcarver in Fuldau; he worked and studied engraving/ wood sculpture under Josef Steinle until 1914. Grauel went into military services from 1916 to 1919; from 1920 to 1924 he worked in several sculpture ateliers. Between 1925 and 1931 Grauel worked for 5 years under Richard Scheibe as Meiserschüler at the Städel Institute of Art in Frankfurt. He made study trips to Italy, France, Austria and Switzerland. In March 1930 Grauel’s famous War Memorial in Bad-Soden was revealed; a young man from Bad Soden stood as a model for the bronze sculpture. A year later, Grauel moved to Berlin and opened an atelier in Berlin-Südende. Grauel, who’s expertise was stone, wood and bronze, was considerable inspired by Donatello, Michelangelo, Rodin, Maillol and also Kolbe. To his circle of friends belonged Ernst Barlach, Wilhelm Lehmbrück, Richard Scheibe and Georg Kolbe. In 1938 Grauel completed his famous triptychon ‘Friede, Tapferkeit, Gerechtigkeit’ (‘Peace’, ‘Courage’ and ‘Justice‘) a work which was commissioned by the Reichsluftfahrtministeriums (Ministry of Aviation) and destined for the officers’ mess of an airbase. In the same year he received -for this triptych which was 2.15 meters high- the Art Prize of the City of Berlin. The triptych was also put on display at the Great German Art Exhibition in 1938. Further commissioned orders for works to be placed at airbases and other military buildings would follow. For example, in 1939 the life-size wooden sculpture of Saint Barbara, an early Christian saint and martyr often portrayed with miniature chains and a tower, perhaps best known as the patron saint of armourers, artillerymen, military engineers and miners. This sculpture was (also)commissioned by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium. In addition, the 180-centimeter high basswood relief ‘Bogenschütze’ (‘Archer’) was placed at a Luftwaffe base.
Grauel participated frequently in the ‘Grosse Berliner Kunstaustellung’ (i.a. 1934, 1940/ 41), in the exhibitions of the Verein Berliner Künstler (1942), and several times in exhibitions organized by the ‘Preussische Akademie der Kunste’ (i.a. the ‘Frühjahrsausstellung’ 1930, 1931, 1933, 1934, 1939, 1940, 1941 and 1942, and the ‘Herbst-Ausstellung’ 1929, 1931, 1935 and 1942). He was also represented at the ‘Kunstausstellung’ des Amtes Feierabend der NS-Gemeinschaft Kraft durch Freude, für die Betriebe des Deutschen Verlages, 2 – 31 December 1937, Berlin; at the exhibition ‘Deutsche Bildhauer der Gegenwart’ in Warsaw/Krakow, 1938; at the 100 Jahre Verein Berliner Künstler‘, Berlin, May/June 1941; at ‘Der NS.-Gemeinschaft KRAFT DURCH FREUDE’, 1938, organised in co-operation with Amt Rosenberg; at the exhibition ‘Ausstellung Berliner Kunst 1935’; at the exhibition ‘Berliner Bildhauer von Schlüter bis zur Gegenwart‘, Preussische Akademie der Künste Berlin, 1936; at the ‘Deutsche Bildhauer der Gegenwart’, organised by the Kunstverein Hamburg in 1940; at the ‘Kunstausstellung in Berlin’, National-Galerie/Alte Nationalgalerie, 1941, and at the ‘Kunstausstellung Hilfswerk für Deutsche Bildende Kunst in der NS-Volkswohlfahrt’, organised by the Preussische Akademie der Künste, Berlin, in 1937, 1938, 1939 and 1941.
At the Great German Art Exhibitions, Grauel was represented with 20 works. The bronze ‘Sieger’ was bought by Hitler for 1,600 Reichsmarks and placed in the Neue Reichskanzlei (in the ‘Verbindungshallen im Westlichen Verwaltungsbau, Voss Strasse 6; depicted in Die Kunst im Deutschen Reich’, 1939).
Besides the triptych, well-known works were displayed, including ‘Zuneigung’ (‘Tenderness’), ‘Melodie’, ‘Kniende’ (‘Kneeling’), ‘Liebende’ (‘Lovers’), ‘Abend’ (‘Evening’) and the relief ‘Neues Leben’ (‘New Life’).
In August 1943 Grauels atelier and house in Berlin were bombed and destroyed; he moved to Bad Soden-Salmünster and somewhat later to the village of Jossa, near Frankfurt.
Heinrich Himmler commissioned Grauel to create a life-size cast of ‘Liebende’ for the Wewelsburg
In 1944 Heinrich Himmler commissioned Anton Grauel to create a life-size cast of ‘Liebende’ for the Wewelsburg, the Renaissance castle located in the village of Wewelsburg (Westphalia), which was used after 1934 by the SS and was to be expanded into a complex acting as the central SS cult-site. Himmler had seen a piece by Grauel in a Danish magazine and asked the artist to re-create it, -with the chin of the figure slightly altered. Grauel seems to have refused.
Sources:
1. document BArch NS 19/3086 in the files of the Bundesarchiv: ‘..in 1944 the ‘Persönliche Stab Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler’ ordered to buy the sculpture ‘Liebende’ by Anton Grauel’.
2. ‘Art as Politics in the Third Reich’, Jonathan Petropoulos: ‘BAK, NS19/3086, documents from 3 July 1944 to 9 march 1945. Specifically, Brandt to Berger, 23 August 1944, notes, “The Reichsführer-SS asks you to issue a commission to the sculptor Grauel to finish the sculpture The Loving One (‘Liebende’). He whishes, however, that the protruding chin of the man be slightly altered.”’
We found in American documents of the ‘Office of Military Government for Greater Hesse’, 16 January 1947, that Anton Grauel held his first exhibition after the war in December 1946, in the Landesbibliothek of Fulda: ‘Sculptures in stone, clay and wood; drawings and photographs of war destroyed works by a distinguished worker in the Kolbe tradition’. In 1951 Grauel emigrated to the United States, where he was naturalized as a US citizen six years later. He first went to the city of Beloit (Wisconsin), and later he settled in El Segundo (California). In the US Grauel again became very successful. In the past he had specialized in human figures and decorative patterns, but in the post-war US he changed his style. His works were designed to deliver a message, to show the character of and the good in mankind. Many of them had a religious theme. Grauel held exhibitions in Wisconsin (Beloit, 1951), in Milwaukee (the Art Institute of Milwaukee, 1952), in Madison, Chicago (the Loyola University) and in Philadelphia. Moreover, the Beloit Art Hall already displayed works of art by Grauel in 1930, 1933 and 1950.
Several sculptures by Grauel can be found in Beloit, Wisconsin: at the Beloit College, at the Beloit State Bank (the welded steel family), in front of the Beloit Catholic High School (stone work of Christ and St. Joseph), in the YWCA lobby (the sisterhood symbol), in St. Paul’s Catholic Church (the crucifix) and in the First Congregational Church (the baptismal font and relief of the flight into Egypt).
In 1964 Grauel created the well-known ‘Seat of Wisdom’, located at the Loyola Marymount University campus in Los Angeles. Other nationally placed works include the following: 14 stone panels at the Building of the Faculty of Arts, Stephen F. Austin State University, Texas (1959); the Stations of the Cross for the Moreau Seminary Chapel at the Notre Dame University in Indiana; the Stations of the Cross for the Church of Christ the King, Wonderlake, Illinois; a limestone relief of St. Patrick for a parochial school in Walkerton, Indiana; ‘Our Lady of Marquette’, a statue of the Blessed Virgin, created in 1957 for the Marquette Catholic High School in Alton, Illinois; St. Joseph, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Vincent de Paul and several other Mahogany sculptures for the seminary of the Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity in Virginia; and various statues for institutions in Illinois and Indiana. A collection of 25 wooden sculptures and terra cotta maquettes (models for sculptures) by Grauel are housed in the Department of Archives and Special Collections of the Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Anton Grauel died in 1971 in El Segundo, California.
On the occasion of his 120th birthday, the ‘Heimat- und Geschichtsverein’ in Bad Soden held a special Anton Grauel exhibition in 2017.