Arno Breker (1900-1991) - "seated Woman"

Bronze cast with a brown patina on a green ground. After the original plaster cast from 1924/1925. Lost-wax casting – Foundry mark “PK” in a lozenge on the plinth at the back. Signed “Arno Breker” and numbered EA IV/IV on the plinth at the back. Dimensions: Height: 31 cm, Length: 34 cm, Depth: 24 cm. Biography: Arno Breker (1900-1991) German School (July 19, 1900 in Elberfeld - February 13, 1991 in Düsseldorf). Born to a sculptor father, Arno Breker trained at the Düsseldorf Academy of Fine Arts from 1919 to 1924. In 1924, he went to Paris and settled there in 1927, where he became a student of Aristide Maillol. He shared a studio with Alexander Calder and formed friendships with artists such as Maurice de Vlaminck, Jean Cocteau, Foujita, Brancusi, André Dunoyer de Segonzac, Isamu Noguchi, and Charles Despiau. Between 1925 and 1934, he studied under Charles Despiau. He quickly made a name for himself thanks to the art dealer Flechtheim, who took charge of his reputation. He received the Prix de Rome in 1932, which allowed him to spend a year at the Villa Massimo, the German Academy in Rome. It was only in 1934-35 that he returned to Germany on the advice of Max Liebermann. In 1937, Arno Breker was appointed professor at the Berlin School of Fine Arts. He was noticed by Albert Speer, the German architect in charge of the restructuring of Berlin and Minister of Armaments and War Production. Arno Breker subsequently became the official sculptor of the Third Reich. He was responsible for creating most of the monuments erected to glorify Germany. It seems that Arno Breker never subscribed to ideology. For him, art had nothing to do with politics, and this is why he rejected, until his death, any accusation of adherence to National Socialism. A brilliant artist, he sculpted according to a classical, if not neoclassical, aesthetic, thus exalting the human form, according to ancient canons, to express all the strength and vigor of the existing model. Throughout his career, Arno Breker created a series of 117 busts, representing writers, painters, statesmen, and also businessmen. He died in Düsseldorf at the age of 90. (Paris-Manaus Gallery)