2836 - Fritz Klimsch (1870 Frankfurt am Main – 1960 Freiburg im Breisgau)

Fritz Klimsch (1870 Frankfurt am Main – 1960 Freiburg im Breisgau) "Humility." Original title Bronze with brown patina, 1931. Signed with the ligature monogram "FK." Foundry mark "H. NOACK BERLIN." Wvz. Braun 156. Cast during the artist’s lifetime after 1945. Klimsch created “Humility” (1931) along with its counterpart “Dynamism” (1932) for Carl Duisberg (1861–1935), the prominent German chemist, industrialist (I.G. Paints) and Privy Councilor—who was an avid collector of modern art and particularly enthusiastic about the works of Fritz Klimsch. The sculptor had previously created large-scale sculptures for Duisberg; now “Humility” and “Energy” were to be installed in Carl Duisberg Park in Leverkusen. Originally, only “Humility” was intended for the park, but in late 1931 Klimsch came up with the idea of pairing it with “Energy.” In a letter to Duisberg dated January 27, 1932, Klimsch wrote: “A place will surely be found for the two planned sculptures that I proposed to you during my last visit (...) Since you were so enthusiastic about the female figure—and since it also strikes me as a particularly successful work of mine—I can confidently say that there is always room for a ‘good work.’ But aside from that, I would consider the two figures (in the meantime, I have also made a design for ‘Energy,’ which complements ‘Humility’ very well) to be a beautiful solution as symbolic gateways to the consecrated ground.” Duisberg and Klimsch also agreed on their conceptions of thesis and antithesis in the realm of art. Klimsch designed both statues as robed figures. In “Humility,” he depicts a young, still girlish and youthful, slender woman with a modern, parted short hairstyle typical of the time, whose light dress falls long to the ground. In a restrained, striding pose, she has humbly bowed her head and crossed her arms in front of her torso so that her fingertips touch her shoulders. Klimsch is considered one of the most significant German figurative sculptors of the first half of the 20th century, who devoted himself primarily to female nudes. Trips to Italy and Greece shaped his style, as did Auguste Rodin, Adolf von Hildebrand, and Aristide Maillol. Together with Max Liebermann and Walter Leistikow, Klimsch founded the Berlin Secession in 1898, and his work was regularly featured in its exhibitions. From 1921 to 1935, he taught as a professor at the United State Schools for Fine and Applied Arts in Berlin. He was able to continue his success during the Weimar Republic into the “Third Reich”; from 1937 to 1944, he was regularly represented at the Great German Art Exhibition in Munich. H. 196 cm. Lit./Catalog: Hermann Braun: “Fritz Klimsch. Eine Dokumentation,” Cologne 1991, no. 156, p. 374, ill. p. 208 (copy in Leverkusen). Bronze with brown patina, 1931. Signed with the monogram “FK.” Foundry stamp “H. NOACK BERLIN.” Cast during the artist’s lifetime after 1945.