Georg Kolbe (1877
Waldheim/Sachsen - 1947 Berlin)
“Kniende” (Kneeling
Woman)
Bronze with gold-brown
patina
Height: 21 Ľ inches
Cast, 1926
Monogram on right heel ‘GK’
Foundry mark on left heel ‘H. Noack Berlin’ (after 1936)
Provenance:
Kurt Valentin (?)
Otto Gerson Gallery in
1962
Private collection,
New York since then
Certificate from Ilse
G. Gerson, 1962
Museums owning this
model include:
Kolbe Museum, Berlin
Art Museum, Princeton
University
Georg Kolbe, one of
the most successful sculptors of his time. He first studied painting
in Dresden and Munich and then went to the Académie Julian in Paris for
6 months. Kolbe moved to Rome in 1898 under the tutelage of Louis
Tuaillon.
He stayed in Rome for
6 years also traveling in Italy, France, Belgium and Holland. Then he
returned to Germany and settled in Berlin in 1904 and joined the
Secession.
He continued
collecting new ideas during frequent trips abroad. In 1913 the sculptor
left the 'Berliner Sezession' which he had joined in 1905 to join the 'Freie
Sezession'.
In 1918 after having
served in the army he became a professor and in 1919 a member of the
Akademie der Künste in Berlin.
While he
never met Rodin, the artist’s work certainly influenced him as did the
work of Maillol. Kolbe’s sculptures, were predominantly of cast
bronze, and show his interest in movement. Above all, he favoured the
free-standing nude and sought harmonious forms to indicate a
well-balanced spirit.
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