!!!Bildhauerkunst
Sculpture: The fine local materials - marble from South Tyrol (Laas,
Sterzing) and Salzburg as well as limestone and sandstone - provided
the basis for the early flourishing of stone sculpture in Austria.
Originally stone sculpture appeared as architectural sculpture and was
intimately related with the buildings themselves, while wood was
preferred for moveable works and decoration.
\\
Pre-Romanesque and Romanesque sculpture in Austria had close links
with masters and schools outside Austria and was thus influenced by
Southern Germany, in particular Bavaria, and occasionally also by
Italy, France and Spain. These influences were mostly brought into
Austria by travelling artists. The excellent architectural and
religious sculpture of that time was primarily produced for the church
and were largely lost as the buildings themselves fell into disuse and
decay.
\\
However, a large number of superb works of the Romanesque period have
survived in Austria. Among the most significant are the relief of the
Virgin from Salzburg, the crucifixes from Ludesch, Gaal and Goess, the
rood screen group in Seckau, the Salvator mundi from Salzburg, the
Gurk portal relief and the tombstone of the last Babenberg,
Friedrich II, at Heiligenkreuz monastery.
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Along with Salzburg, the Vienna area acquired a dominant position in
the 13%%sup th/% century. Here a school of builders and masons
developed, which continued the tradition of the 12%%sup th/% century
and whose great significance was expressed in the sculptures for
St. Stephen's Cathedral. The large and elaborate portal forms
belong predominantly to the late Romanesque period of the 13%%sup th/%
century (e.g., the "Riesentor" of St. Stephen's cathedral, the
portal of the Franciscan church in Salzburg, the collegiate churches
of St. Paul im Lavanttal and Heiligenkreuz, the parish church in
Tulln). The sculptural decoration on the apse of Schoengrabern church
(around 1240/50) is unique in Austria; comparable works exist only in
France and Italy.
\\
Late Gothic individual pieces like statues of the Virgin, figures of
saints, crucifixes and tombstones (Viktring, Gurk, Heiligenkreuz,
Wilhering) are relatively numerous.
\\
The Gothic style reached Austria around 1250, and many sculptural
works of this period are among the most significant extant in Europe.
However, indications of the location and time of origin are sparse,
and little is known about the artists. In the early Gothic phase of
the 14%%sup th/% century, the centre of Austrian sculpture was the
Vienna area around the ducal court. Typically Austrian features are
particularly conspicuous in the statues of the Virgin, the most
notable examples being the so-called Vienna "Dienstbotenmadonna" (The
Servants' Madonna") and the statues of the Virgin from Klosterneuburg,
St. Florian and Admont. In the second half of the 14%%sup th/%
century, the court of Charles IV in Prague was an important
model, inspiring an intensive artistic exchange which led to the
assimilation of international influences.
\\
Around 1400, Austrian sculpture culminated in a "soft style", which
found its most eloquent expression in the pietàs (in particular
those of the Viennese, Lower Austrian, Styian and Carinthian sculpture
schools) and the Bohemian so-called "Beautiful Virgin Mary" statues
(in particular in Salzburg and Upper Styria). In the 15%%sup th/%
century much artistic activity was already going on in every province,
with Graz, Innsbruck and Wiener Neustadt occasionally surpassing
Vienna. Among the many local schools of art, those of Grosslobming and
Salzburg achieved major significance. Around 1430 a realistic style
(also known as "hard style") emerged, which developed primarily in
Vienna, but also in the Alpine provinces. Its main exponents were J.
Kaschauer and the Master of the Znaim Altar. One of the most important
functions of sculpture in this period was altar carving (winged
altars). In the course of the 15th century, sculpture, which had long
been almost exclusively in the service of the church and the nobility,
increasingly found customers among the middle class. The famous
sculptors of Late Gothic and Renaissance Gothic in Austria include N.
Gerhaert van Leyden, J. Kaschauer, M. Pacher, L. Astl, L. Luchsperger,
H. Valkenauer, A. Pilgram well as the Master of the winged altars in
Kefermarkt and Mauer bei Melk.
\\
The late Gothic conception of form and expression continued well into
the 16th century. As in other forms of art, from 1500 a change in the
perception of the body and of nature occurred, which characterised the
style of the Danube school. Representatives of this period in Austria
include A. Lackner, the Master of the Pulkau altar and the Master
I. P. Works like the sculptural decoration on the "Goldene
Dachl" (the "Golden Roof") or the bronze statues of the tomb of
Maximilian in Innsbruck characterise the transition to the
Renaissance. In the 16%%sup th/% century, casting in metal,
previously only used in crafts, became one of the most important
sculptural techniques.
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Renaissance sculpture gave independence to the human figure. The
monumental tomb sculptures at the turn of the 17%%sup th/% century
(mausoleum of Duke Karl II in Seckau, the chapel in the Innsbruck
Hofkirche where Archduke Ferdinand II and Philippine Welser are
buried, the mausoleum of Emperor Ferdinand II in Graz) provide
magnificent examples. Important sculptors of this period were A. Colin
and H. Saphoy.
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The Baroque period once more produced notable Austrian sculptors and
carvers, and Italian artists in Austria were soon engaging in lively
exchange with the prevailing style. Favoured by the political events,
the number of Austrian master sculptors was increasing (M.
Guggenbichler, M. B. Mandl, the Schwanthaler family, Paul and
Peter Strudel, the Zuern family). These sculptors developed their own
mode of expression from local conditions, in particular in areas in
which tradition had been maintained from the Late Middle Ages. In many
ways sculpture reflected the Baroque dramatic art which aimed at a
synthesis of all the arts. While at the beginning the individual was
only part of a whole, the figures and groups soon became epic cycles
in their own right intended to explain the spiritual and historical
situation of the Austria of the time. Sculptors were contracted to
create numerous works (wayside shrines, plague columns, garden
sculpture) and again placed sculpture predominantly in the service of
architecture. The charming narrative style which developed in the area
of the eastern Danube (for example, M. Steinl's architectural work in
Duernstein, Melk, and Zwettl) created a unique and almost
"musical" mood in their use of colour, which is also
characteristic of Austrian Baroque sculpture.
\\
The sculptures of the 18%%sup th/% century were executed by artists
like G. Giuliani and G. R. Donner. Their great influence on
Austrian sculptural tradition can be measured against the works of
their pupils and successors. The most important sculptors of the late
Baroque and Rococo period in Austria include F. X. Messerschmidt,
J. Schletterer, J. T. Stammel, B. Moll and J. G.
Dorfmeister.
\\
In the Rococo the art of intimate sculptural genre scenes reached even
the smallest village church. At the same time, porcelain figurines
were becoming increasingly popular in Vienna porcelain manufacturing.
In the Baroque period, academies emerged as training institutions for
sculptors, of which the Vienna Akademie der bildenden Kuenste was
most attractive for students. Among its teachers were Matthaeus
Donner, B. Moll and J. Schletterer. In the 1870s, the requirement for
someone to be officially discharged from his articles of
apprenticeship before he could practise as an academic sculptor was
abolished. The Baroque forms of expression were in many ways passed on
into the 19th century (J. B. Hagenauer, A. Grassi).
\\
The renewal of sculpture was first brought to Austria by Romanticism,
orienting itself on classical and French models (A. Canova, F. A.
Zauner, J. Klieber). Sculpture played a subordinate role in the
Vormaerz period, and only in miniature work, in particular porcelain
figurines, were there any notable achievements. Only the second half
of the 19%%sup th/% century saw sculptors again being entrusted with
prestigious commissions, such as the developments around the Vienna
Ringstrasse. Alongside architectural sculpture, the design of
monuments and portrait sculpture acquired a new expression of
perfection. Famous sculptors of the Gruenderzeit were A. D.
Fernkorn, C. von Zumbusch, V. Tilgner, C. Kundmann and H. Gasser.
\\
At the turn of the 20%%sup th/% century, a new emancipation of
sculpture began. Sculpture was no longer dominated by architecture and
aimed at searching for its own forms of expression. In Austria the
theoretical basis for this movement was provided by Hellmer and the
Vienna Secession. But the first breakthrough was made by A. Hanak,
who was still rooted in the forms of production of the Gruenderzeit,
but re-opened discussion on the expressive qualities of the different
materials and their appropriate use in sculpture. After the Second
World War many of his pupils became leading figures of Austrian
sculpture (F. Wotruba, H. Leinfellner, S. Charoux). The human form
also became a central subject for Austrian sculptors such as A.
Urteil, H. Knesl, W. Bertoni, R. Hoflehner, O. Bottoli, J. Avramidis,
J. Pillhofer, M. Bilger-Biljan and A. Hrdlicka. At the same time, new
definitions were attempted and numerous different forms of artistic
expression developed, often related to new media and techniques. There
were also many attempts to cross the lines between the individual
areas of the fine arts.
\\
Currently the most famous Austrian sculptors include A. Hrdlicka, J.
Pillhofer, W. Goetzinger, K. Prantl, W. Pichler, E. Wurm, H.
Kupelwieser, F. X. Oelzant, I. Kienast, J. Schagerl, B.
Gironcoli, F. West, M. Wakolbinger, W. Wuertinger, M. Maderna and G.
Moswitzer.
!Literature
E. Tietze-Conrat, Oesterreichische Barockplastik, 1926; F.
Novotny, Romanische Bauplastik in Oesterreich, 1930; H. Decker,
Barockplastik in den Alpenlaendern, 1944; G. von der Osten, Plastik
des 19. Jahrhunderts in Deutschland, Oesterreich and der Schweiz,
1961; J. Muschik, Oesterreichische Plastik seit 1945, 1966; Gotik in
Oesterreich, exhibition catalogue, Krems 1967; R. Wagner-Rieger (ed.),
Die Wiener Ringstrasse, vol. IX, 3 parts, 1973-1980; Die
Renaissance in Oesterreich, exhibition catalogue, Schallaburg 1974;
Neue Wege des plastischen Gestaltens in Oesterreich, exhibition
catalogue, Graz 1984; I. Dolinschek, Die Bildhauerwerke in den
Ausstellungen der Wiener Secession von 1898-1910, 1989.
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