Johann Gottfried Schadow - Essay Example

As a young boy of six, Johann Gottfried Schadow would watch as his father, a tailor, put chalk marks on material he was going to cut out. He would then join the marks with lines to show the outline of the front or back of a garment. Young Schadow would then draw dots and lines on slate and create an unmistakable image of his father. So began the career of one of Germany’s most brilliant neoclassical sculptors. (NEOCLASSICAL ART: “Severe and unemotional form of art harking back to the grandeur of ancient Greece and Rome. Its rigidity was a reaction to the overboard Rococo style and the emotionally charged Baroque style. The rise of neoclassical art was part of a general revival of interest in classical thought, which was of some importance in the American and French revolutions.”) (ArtCyclopedia— The Guide to Great Art on the Internet.) Schadow trained under the court sculptor Jean- Pierre- Antoine Tassaert, and also in Rome for a brief period of time. It is said that it was during that brief, two year stint in Rome that he “found his style.” Upon his return to Berlin, Schadow succeeded Tassaert as court sculptor and became director of what is now the Berlin School of Sculpture. He is considered the school’s founder and had a great influence during the time he spent there. His sons, Rudolph Schadow and Friedrich Wilhem Schadow both followed in their father’s wake by becoming a sculptor and painter, respectively. Rudolph Schadow had his father as his first instructor, and his talents were considered to be versatile. Friedrich Schadow became more well-known for being a teacher and a director rather than a painter, but held “that an artist must believe and live out the truths he essays to paint.” (www.1911encyclopedia.org/schadow) Schadow is known for a number of his works, some of the most notable including: the tomb of Count Alexander von der Mark in Berlin; the Quadriga on the Brandenburg Gate; statues of Leopold von Desssau and Frederick the Great; and monuments to Blucher at Rostock and to Luther at Wittenburg. While he created at least 30 works of church monuments and memorials, he is not considered to be among Christian sculptors. He is instead recognized by classical and idealists of his time. Schadow is also well-known for his double sculptor of Princesses Luise and Friederike—“Prinzessin Luise und Friedrike.” He was commissioned to construct the piece in 1797. The Princesses were sisters, with Luise being two years older. Friederike eventually became the Queen of Hanover as well as the Duchess of Cumberland; Luise went on to become the Queen of Prussia. With the reputation of being exceptionally beautiful as well as charming, the sisters came to the attention of Prussian King Friedrich III. He referred to them as “the two angels,” and deemed them proper matches for his sons, one of them being the crown prince. The engagements were arranged and double wedding was held during Christmas of 1793. Luise was 17 years-old and Friederike was 15 years-old. Both girls were reputed to have had a rebellious streak in their youth. Luise’s steak faded away as she became more and more devoted to her husband, Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. She is still considered to be the most popular of German queens, “beautiful, graceful, serene, gentle, natural, charming, without airs or arrogance…She was the exact opposite of the self-confident rulers Isabella, Elizabeth, Maria Theresia and Catherine and was thus especially well suited to become the beloved and so mythically glorified model of German womanhood.” (www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/luise-von-preussen/) Friederike’s marriage to Ludwig was not a happy one. When he died in 1796, “she felt more shaken than grief- stricken. The fun-loving and flighty princess soon turned to other cavaliers and was reported to have had affairs.” She married three times. (www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/friederike) The statue of the princesses that Schadow created was considered to reflect that “fun-loving” spirit of Friederike, at least by the successor of the man who originally commissioned the piece. When the statue was completed, he “considered Schadow’s sculpture a frivolous display of his wife and sister- in- law, which had the unfortunate side effect of reminding him of the scandalous behaviour of the younger Friederike.” (Sculpture An Historical Overview pg. 99) Schadow then retired the piece, which had been praised as a symbol of moral grace, into his studio. He was not pleased with this turn of events and stated in his autobiography, dated 1805/ 06: “This group has suffered much from the filth of the mice, which had nested in the chest, and the marble has developed hideous spots.” (Sculpture An Historical Overview pg. 100) The statue remained in seclusion until 1893. It could then be seen in the Berlin City Castle. The public was granted limited access. Others, however, had nothing but high praise for the piece. When the plaster model was shown at the academy exhibition, “critics greeted it with great enthusiasm and praised the ‘Greek Style.’ As a result Schadow was commissioned to execute his sculpture in marble which is now an icon of European classicism. The marble statue is an exact copy of the original plaster model.” (www.vldb.informatik.hu-berlin.de/smb_nationalgalerie.html) Schadow’s “Prinzessin Luise und Friederike” has also been linked to the Romantic period. “J.G. Schadow’s famous and much earlier group of the two Prussian princesses Luise and Friederike, on the other hand, already reveals strongly romantic tendencies.” (Romanticism Hugh Honour pg. 128) The statue was also praised for its “naturalness.” “For Schadow, ‘form always remained a contemporary dress for a super-historical conception of nature.’ (Karl Scheffler) But in a work like the group of Crown Princesses Luis and her sister Friederike (1793) the classicist ideal of repose and harmony is spiritualized by means of naturalness, especially in the magnificently differentiated abundance of the flow of the folds.” (Painting and Sculpture in Europe, 1780- 1880 Fritz Novotny pg. 389) “With his sculptures, Johann Gottfried Schadow (1764- 1850) carried the art of antiquity into the modernity of early 19th century classicism. Completely as a matter of course, the double statue of the princesses Luise and Friederike of Prussia (1797) stands in the tradition of the antique sculpture, yet it is also a natural portrait drawn from life. Thus it is that immediate proximity of the Alte Nationalgalerie to the Collection of Classical Antiquities becomes an expression of the living, critical examination of ancient times and of the integration of antiquity into a universal concept of art.” (www.museumsinsel-berlin.de/index.php?/lang=en&page=3_9_1_3) In his later years, Schadow’s eyesight became to fail and he began writing and devoting himself to art theory. He wrote on the proportions of the human body, and on national physiognomy. One of his works, “The Sculptor and Art Student’s Guide to the Proportions of the Human Form: A treatise by Johann Gottfried Shadow” is based on the works of the Greek sculptor Polycletus. The book is still in circulation, and used by students today. Schadow lived and worked out of his home for most of his life, which also included a hall for public lectures. He was known for his plain speaking as he would circulate the room, checking on his student’s progress. While at the pinnacle of his career, Schadow would use his name and reputation, as well as his influence to help younger, aspiring artists. His home in Berlin is the city’s last remaining classical artists’ residence. Schadow was known for emphasizing the “the craft behind the art and right of an artist to receive fair reward for his skill- ‘Der Arbeiter ist seines Lohnes wert,’ (The workman is worth his pay.)” (www.intouchde.org.uk/literature/fontane) Romanticism, Hugh Honour pg. 128 Encyclopedia Britannica, A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature, and…… pg.310 Sculpture An Illustrated Historical Overview Crash Course Series pg. 99- 100 The New Encyclopedia Britannica Volume 10, Micropedia Ready Reference pg. 506 Painting and Sculpture in Europe, 1780-1880, Fritz Novotny pg. 389 Art Cyclopedia- The Guide to Great Art on the Internet www.vldb.informatik.hu-berlin.de/smb_nationalgalerie.html www.1911encyclopedia.org/schadow www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/biography/luise von preussen/ www.fembio.org/english/biography.php/woman/print_bio/friederike von hannover www.flickr.com/photos/42311564@N00/259187720 www.museumsinsel-berlin.de/index.php?/lang=en&page=3_9_1_3 www.intouchde.org.uk/literature/fontane www.berlin-tourist-information.de Read More