3676 - Carl Seffner, Bust of Beethoven

Carl Seffner, Bust of Beethoven dated 1919, signed, stucco gilded and painted in dark colours, a bust of the famous composer on a plinth, plinth featuring a figurative relief of musicians on the front, with very minor loss of paint and material in places; height of bust approx. 38 cm, total height approx. 60 cm. Artist’s biography: German sculptor and medallist (1861, Leipzig - 1932, ibid.), trained as a lithographer, studied at the Leipzig Academy of Fine Arts under Melchior zur Straßen from 1877 to 1883, then worked in Berlin; from 1885 with Emil Hundrieser and Karl Schuler; from 1886 he travelled through Italy and Paris; from 1889 in Leipzig, from then on he devoted himself mainly to portrait sculpture; for his works he collaborated with renowned foundries such as Noack in Leipzig, Gladenbeck in Berlin, Pirner & Franz and Bierling in Dresden; at times he must have worked as an assistant to Max Klinger, he held the honorary title of Privy Councillor; thanks to Seffner’s efforts in the sculptural reconstruction of Johann Sebastian Bach’s skull, he was appointed an honorary member of the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts; he headed the Leipzig Association of Scholars and Artists, the Leoniden. Source: Wikipedia.