487 - Jürgen Weber

Jürgen Weber 1928 Münster – 2007 at Pou d'es Lleo on Ibiza – War or Peace – Bronze. Black-green patina. 1/4 24.5 x 49 cm. Monogram on the inside: W in a circle. Foundry mark: GUSS BARTH BERLIN. – Lit.: Vollmer 5, pp. 89–90. – Lit.: The Sculptor Jürgen Weber. Catalog accompanying the exhibition at the Städtisches Museum Braunschweig. Braunschweig 1978, pp. 36ff. The relief is the left-hand section (War) of a small version (presumably the design) of the relief “War or Peace,” which Weber created on commission from the Federal Government for the Kennedy Center in Washington and which was installed there in January 1971. War is symbolized here in three ways. On the left is depicted the anonymous killing by bombing in modern warfare. To the right of that is the personal killing in modern warfare (fratricide); the right side shows burning ruins, with the flames forming the large head of Mars, the god of war. After completing an apprenticeship as a bronze caster, Weber began studying medicine. He studied art history in Tübingen and sculpture at the Stuttgart Academy of Art. From 1961 to 1996, Weber taught in Braunschweig. His works include the portal of St. Jacob’s Church in Hamburg, the Wrestler Fountain in Braunschweig, and the fountain with a historical column in Koblenz.