Back
 |
 |
 |
|||
Description
‘Bogenschütze’ (‘Archer’)
Biography: Hugo Lederer
Created in 1932.
Cast by Heinze & Bart, Berlin.
Total height 198 cm, including original marble column. The bronze figure is 71 cm high.
Single unique cast, with core still inside (see X-ray photos below).
Another cast of Bogenschütze by Lederer stands on the desk of Richard Strauss in Villa Strauss.
In March 1933, the ‘American Magazine of Art’ published a special ‘Lederer and Kolbe, -two leading art personalities’. The magazine compared Lederer with Kolbe and also linked him to Adolf von Hildebrand: ‘With his Hamburg Bismarck and his Fencer Fountain, Lederer exerted a profound influence upon German sculpture, almost paralleling that of von Hildebrand’.
Total height of the figure is 198 cm. Marble column is 110 cm, base is 17 cm and the bronze figure is 71 cm.
The Strauss Villa
The Strauss Villa is the home of the German composer Richard Strauss in the Upper Bavarian town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Between 1907 and 1908, the Art Nouveau architect Emanuel von Seidl built the villa on the property located at Zoeppritzstraße 42 in Garmisch. Richard Strauss preferred what was then Garmisch to what used to be the neighboring town of Partenkirchen because of its cooler weather. The family used the house as a summer retreat from 1908 and later as a permanent residence.
Today, the villa remains a private residence maintained by the Strauss family and was the home of Strauss’ grandson Christian until his death in February 2020. The study houses historical works as well as German classics. The first floor bedrooms today house an archive. The room where Strauss died now serves as a memorial.
Another cast of ‘Bogenschütze’ by Lederer, and a bronze bust of Strauss by Lederer, are located in the workroom of Richard Strauss in Villa Strauss.
Villa Strauss: at the back the Strauss-bust, left on the desk the ‘Bogenschütze’.
‘Bogenschütze’ by Lederer, on the desk of Richard Strauss. 
Direct Lost-Wax Casting – the Single Unique Cast
In the direct lost-wax casting process (also named ‘cire perdue’), the sculptor begins by building a roughly modelled clay-core over a metal armature. The clay-core is baked to harden it and drive off moisture, and then a relatively thin layer of wax is applied that receives the detailing of anatomy, texture, facial features and signature. A mold is formed around the wax-model, when the mold is heated the wax melts and creates a space into which molten bronze is poured. Once the bronze is cast, the clay-core and armature can be removed to lessen the weight of the finished sculpture. Occasionally the core and armature rods are -in whole or in part- left inside the bronze. On sculptures meant to be placed outdoors, the clay-core and iron-armature are generally removed in order to avoid damage from absorption of water.
The direct lost wax technique allows the artist to cast directly off of the original model, and is ideal for wax models with complex surface textures as well as large and complex compositions. This casting method produces a Single Unique Cast from a Single Model (as opposed to one that is cast from a mold of an existing model). The original master model is lost in the casting process: producing more copies of the master model is impossible.
When X-ray photos show iron armature or internal frame inside the bronze, it is evident that the direct lost wax casting technique was used and that we have to do with the original cast/model.
X-ray photos taken in 2021 of ‘Bogenschüzte’. Clearly visible are the iron wires from the core inside.
Foundry Heinze & Barth
Foundry Heinze & Bart was incorporated at 1 July 1912 by Gustav Heinze and Gustav Barth in Berlin-Schmargendorf. It is unknown when the company actually ceased its operations. As bronzes created in 1939 have shown up with a foundry mark ‘G. Heinze, Berlin’, it is assumable that the company Heinze & Bart did not exist anymore in 1939.
| – condition | : II |
| – size | : total height 198 cm. Bronze figure is 71 cm high. |
| – signed | : signed at base. Created in 1932 |
| – type | : bronze. With foundry mark ‘Heinze & Barth’ |
============================================ § ============================================