Arno Breker, Junges Europa, life-size

Back​​​

				Price: sold

Description

‘Junges Europa’, 1978 (‘Young Europe’)
Biography: Arno Breker

Height: 146 cm (almost life-size), weight 83,5 kg.
One out of a serie of 6. 
Cast in 1978 by foundry Herbert Schmäke Düsseldorf.
(NB the smaller casts with a height of 69 cm are part of a series of 150)

Arno Breker, next to a cast of Junges Europa. Probably in Düsseldorf, in the beginning of the 1980s. 

 Junge Mann mit Zeus-Attribut des Adlerkopfes.
The German Olympic swimmer Walther Kusch stood as the model for this sculpture. In 1978 Kusch was the world champion at the 100 m breast crawl and he had a total of 34 records in his name. Arno Breker commented on this sculpture in ‘Ein leben für das Schöne’, page 32: ‘The United Europe does not have a face yet’. Fans  believe that Breker was referring to ‘Junges Europa’, a revolutionary movement in 1834 in Germany, Italy and Poland. Their motto was ‘Freiheit, Gleichheit, Humanität’ and the movement strived for a democratic Europe. Critics say that the sculpture looks like the Egyptian God Horus (with the head of a hawk), and he sculptured the God of War and Hunting. Therefore, they hold that Breker still had the same style as in the past.

Arno Breker modelling Walther Kusch.


‘Junges Europa’ by Breker, depicted in ‘The Art Newspaper’, 1 January 2026.
 

============================================ § ============================================