Kauba Carl 1865-1922 Bronze Setter

Carl Kauba Austrian, 1865-1922 , Setter on Retrieve Seeing a Hare Run Away, signed bronze on the brown patina terrace on red marble . Austrian sculptor Carl Kauba was fascinated by the American West and created dynamic bronze sculptures of cowboys, Native Americans, and bison. Between 1895 and 1912, his polychrome pieces attracted the attention of the American public, while his domestic status work in Austria helped cement his artistic reputation. He was born the son of a shoemaker in 1865 in Vienna, Austria. He later studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna before apprenticeships with sculptor Karl Waschmann and sculptor and medalist Stefan Schwartz. Although some accounts indicate that Kauba traveled to the United States to create models and sketches, scholars have questioned the inaccuracy of the details of the weapons and equestrian costumes in his work. Kauba enjoyed the Western tales of German author Karl May and was known to have a friend in Ohio who mailed him costume materials, all of which may have served as references for the art. Kauba's bronze works are recognized as exceptional works of Viennese craftsmanship, imbued with artistic complexity and realism. His sculptures of horsemen, cowboys, and Native Americans of the American West place him in the same category as titans of American Western art such as Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell. Carl Kauba's original art enjoyed a resurgence in popularity during a 1950s advertising campaign for Latendorfer in New York. His works are still highly sought after by Old West collectors. Kauba's works have been exhibited in numerous American art galleries, including the Thomas Nygard Gallery in Montana and the Ophir Gallery in New Jersey.