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Description
‘Athlet’ (‘Athlete’)
Biography: Franz von Stuck
Bronze, cast before 1906.
With foundry mark ‘C. Leyrer’
In total 42 works -including a cast of ‘The Athlete’- by Franz von Stuck were part of the collection of the ‘Führermuseum’, or ‘Linz art gallery’, an unrealized art museum planned by Adolf Hitler for his hometown, the Austrian city of Linz. Its purpose was to display a selection of the art bought, confiscated or stolen by the Nazis from throughout Europe during World War II. The overall plan was to turn Linz into one of the greatest art centers of Europe, overshadowing Vienna.
The cast of ‘The Athlete’ was after WWII transferred to the Museum Wiesbaden (below).
Signed ‘GUSS C. LEHRER MÜNCHEN’.
Several prominent museums worldwide, hold a cast of ‘Der Athlete’ by Von Stuck.
‘Der Athlet’ by Von Stuck, bronze. Displayed in the National Gallery of Prague, room 23.
‘Der Athlet’ and other works by Franz von Stuck, displayed at the ‘Exhibition of Contemporary German Art’ at the Metropolitan Museum, New York, 1909.
‘Der Athlet’ by Von Stuck, bronze. Postcard issued by the Art Institut of Chicago, -‘permanent collections of works of art’. Notice the text ‘FRANZ VON STUCK, German, 1863 – ‘ (before 1928).
‘Der Athlet’ by Von Stuck, bronze, 65 cm. In the possession of the Hungarian National Gallery.
‘Der Athlet’ by Von Stuck, bronze, heigt 65 cm. In the possession of the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, Sweden. purchased in 1920.
‘The Athlete’ by Von Stuck, in the possession of the Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen -Neue Pinakothek. Bronze, 65 cm. Purchased in 1904 at the exhibition of the ‘Deutschen Künstlerbundes’ in Munich.
Franz von Stuck in the Führermuseum
The Führermuseum, also referred to as the ‘Linz Art Gallery’, was an unrealized art museum planned by Adolf Hitler for his hometown, the Austrian city of Linz, near his birthplace of Braunau. Its purpose was to display a selection of the art bought, confiscated or stolen by the Nazis from throughout Europe during World War II.
Hitler personally favored German and Austrian paintings from the 19th century, but the Linz-collection also contained many early German, Dutch, French, and Italian paintings. The collection, when it was whole, included 4,731 pieces, not just paintings but also tapestries, sculpture, furniture and porcelain.
The overall plan was to turn Linz into a cultural capital of Nazi Germany and one of the greatest art centers of Europe, overshadowing Vienna, for which Hitler had a personal distaste. The expected completion date for the project was 1950, however the Führermuseum was never build.
Beginning February 1944, the artworks destinated for Linz (‘Sonderauftrag Linz’) were relocated to the 14th-century Steinberg salt mines above the village of Altaussee, in which the holdings of various Viennese museums had earlier been transferred.
In total 42 works -including a cast of ‘The Athlete’- by Franz von Stuck were part of the collection of the Führermuseum (see website of the German Historical Museum, Berlin). The cast of ‘The Athlete’ was after WWII transferred to the Museum Wiesbaden.
‘Der Athlet’ by Stuck, at the permanent exhibition in the Museum Wiesbaden.
‘The Athlet’ by Von Stuck, registered as part of the ‘Linzer Sammlung’ in the files of the German Historical Museum, Berlin.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : height 65 cm |
| – signed | : at base ‘Franz Stuck’. With foundry mark ‘GUSS C. LEYRER MÜNCHEN’ |
| – type | : bronze, cast before 1906 |
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