Rudolf Marcuse (1878-1940) Sculptor - Male Nude - Young Athlete Fencer - 1907

Well folks, it has been one busy Hurricaine season here in Florida. First Helene came roaring through with me sitting here for four days without power. Fortunately the generator kicked in and kept me somewhat safe. Now I am sitting 150 miles north of another monster. The eye of that storm is sitting 40 miles off the coast of Tampa and is causing all sorts of havoc. This afternoon I was floating around eBay Germany when I spotted a beautiful male nude bronze of a young fencer and I thought I would share it with you. As you can see Rudolf Marcuse (1878-1940)certainly had a tallent for sculpting the human figure. Here's a brief biography from the usual source on line: Rudolf Marcuse (15 January 1878, Berlin – 3 April 1940, London) was a German sculptor of Jewish ancestry. Most of his works were relatively small, and many were designed for porcelain. He was the son of a merchant. His first professional lessons were at the Academy of Arts, Berlin, with the sculptor, Ernst Herter. In 1902, he was awarded a scholarship by the Board of Trustees. The following year, he was awarded the Michael Beer Prize for his "Judgement of Solomon". In 1909, he created one of his few large works, a memorial to the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn at the Jewish Boys' School. It was destroyed in 1941 by members of the Sturmabteilung (SA).[1] In 1910, he received the "Rome Prize" (modelled after the French Prix de Rome) from the Prussian Academy of Arts,[2] which enabled him to stay in the Villa Strohl-Fern. That same year, he won a gold medal at the Brussels International.[3] During this period, he designed numerous statuettes in the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles, which were produced by the bronze caster, Hermann Gladenbeck [de].[4] He also designed porcelain figures for the Schwarzburg Porcelain Workshops [de], the Royal Porcelain Factory, Berlin, and the Rosenthal Manufactory.[5] During World War I, he visited several prisoner-of-war camps, where he created thirty-seven sculptures, depicting the various ethnic types and nationalities among the prisoners. These were meant to be placed in a proposed "Reichskriegsmuseum" (National War Museum), which was never completed.[6] In 1915, he apparently married a sculptor named Elisabeth Seligsohn, about whom very little is known. As late as 1930, he was receiving monetary awards from the Prussian Cultural Ministry [de]. This came to an abrupt end in 1933, when the National Socialist party came to power and began rejecting his applications due to his "Non-Aryan race". In 1936, thanks to his status as a "War Artist", he was allowed to emigrate to England. If Elisabeth was still alive, she did not go with him. In 1939, he may have married an Englishwoman named Alice. Neither marriage appears to be reliably documented. He died at his home in London, aged sixty-two.---------------

---------Here are just a few examples of his other works

Unknown Artist.... Late 19th Century. The Three Graces

Well, I can assure you that when you start fishing around in storage drawers you never know what will turn up. This small drawing was lurking in a drawer in my map case and I stumbled on it this morning. It is unsigned and the artist is unknown but it is from the late 19th century. The "Three Graces" has always been one of my favorite legends. The number of Graces (Charis) vary throughout the history of art and in ancient Greek literature there were alledged to be three: Aglaia (Brightness - Elegance), Euphrosyne (Joyfulness - Mirth), and Thalia (Bloom - Youth and Beauty). In ancient Rome they were known as the Gratiae. They were said to be the daughters of Zeus and Hera, Zeus and Eunomia, or Helios and Aegle, a daughter of Zeus. Take your pick. Their major role in mythology was to attend the other Olympians, particularily during feasts and dances. Art history is full of various renditions of the subject matter in every medium imaginable. It seems as though everybody and his uncle has their own interpretation of The Three Graces!

Karl Ludwig Nagel (1898-1959) Study of a Nude Youth Excercising

This small drawing came into my collection last year and was placed in a drawer until I rediscover it a few days ago.It is a small study of a nude youth excercising. Pencil on paper from 1916. The German painter Karl Ludwig Nagel was born in Mannheim in 1898 and worked, among others, in Weinheim an der Bergstrasse and later in Bonn am Rhein, where he died in 1959. Enjoy.

Ferdinando De Luca (Italian Artist - Late 19th - Early 20th Century) - Young Italian Scugnizzi - (Street Urchin) - with his Catch

This beautiful monumental bronze (measuring 34 innches in height) recently arrived into my collection from a Gallery in London, UK. The owner told me it was bought during a trip to Taormina, Sicily, Italy several years ago for his personal collection and now it was time to pass it along to a new owner. The bronze is of a young boy or scugnizzi (street urchin) holding his catch. It reminds me of the sculptures of Vincenzo Gemito, Ferdinando Vichi, and Annibale De lotto. De Luca was a classical artist known for producing sculptures of small bronze busts, depicting "street urchins", fishermen, classical figures. and commoners with realistic features. Unfortunately there is scant biographical information, including the dates of his birth and death, floating around but there are numerous examples of his other works. Enjoy!

Here are a few examples of his other works: