Adolf Lehnert (20 July 1862 – 6 January 1948) was a
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
sculptor and
medal designer.
Life
Family
Franz Robert Adolf Lehnert was born in Leipzig, the second of his parents' twelve recorded children. His father, also called Adolf Lehnert, was an
engine driver
A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...
. His mother, born Lina Werner, was originally from
Borna (to the southeast of the city).
In 1889 Lehnert married Else Riedel, daughter of the composer-musical director
Carl Riedel. This connected him to one of Leipzig's leading artistic families. Sadly, however, the marriage was childless and Else died in 1907.
Lehnert's second marriage was to Johanna Wildenhayn (1875–1957). This marriage resulted in two recorded children: Siegfried (1910–1941) and Waltraut (1916–2007).
Education
After leaving school Adolf Lehnert studied at the
Leipzig Arts Academy (''"Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig"'') between 1880 and 1888. His principal teacher was
Melchior zur Straßen.
At the academy's annual exhibitions of its students' work he received a bronze medal in 1882 and a silver medal in 1885. After completion of his course at the academy he undertook a further study year in Rome and Paris.
Teaching
Between 1896 and 1924 Lehnert taught at the
Arts Academy. Early on he was invited to deputise for his teacher,
Melchior zur Straßen. After the latter suddenly died Lehnert was officially appointed to succeed him as head of the sculpture classes with effect from 1 December 1897. Topics he taught included "
Still life forms", "Life model forms" and "Measures of the human form". In 1907 he was given the title of "Professor". His students included
Kurt Schmid-Ehmen,
Bruno Eyermann,
Fritz Zalisz,
Fritz Maenicke,
Albrecht Leistner,
Max Alfred Brumme,
Paul Stuckenbruck and
Alfred Thiele. It was Thiele who would succeed him as head of the sculpture department at the Arts Academy.
Artistic output
Adolf Lehnert was one of the leading exponents of
Historicism
Historicism is an approach to explaining the existence of phenomena, especially social and cultural practices (including ideas and beliefs), by studying their history, that is, by studying the process by which they came about. The term is widely u ...
in Leipzig. He undertook many public and private commissions, and his output is thereby well recorded. In
his home city he was involved in providing decorative art work for Leipzig's
New (in 1905) City Hall. He worked on the
University Library
An academic library is a library that is attached to a higher education institution and serves two complementary purposes: to support the curriculum and the research of the university faculty and students. It is unknown how many academic librar ...
, the nearby
German Book Repository and the striking
Jugendstil
''Jugendstil'' ("Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German counterpart of ...
Arts Palace (''"Künstlerhaus "'').
Leipzig was a well heeled city, and Lehnert also received plenty of work on villa decorations and memorials. His work included elaborate tomb stones, allegorical figures, elaborate friezes and busts, along with reliefs and small sculptures. He was in particular demand as a
Portrait
A portrait is a portrait painting, painting, portrait photography, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, Personality type ...
ist and
medal designer. His approach built on the idealistic style of his teacher,
Melchior
Melchior is the name traditionally given to one of the biblical Magi appearing in the Gospel of Matthew. There are many notable people with this name, or close variations.
As a first name
* Melchior Anderegg (1828–1914), Swiss mountain guide
* ...
, but with ever more precise individualisation. In that respect he can be seen as the founder of a Leipzig portrait art tradition.
Lehnert designed a series of very appealing angel figures, approximately 135 cm high, for
the Württemberg Metalwares Factory (then, as now, best known as a cutlery manufacturer). These were cast in
Electroformed metal and can still be found in German cemeteries and former cemeteries. They were available "with or without wings", identified in the company's catalogue as "Grave statuette No.745 by Lehnert".
There is also one of these angels at the
Grave Art Museum in
Kassel
Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel and the district of the same name and had 201,048 inhabitants in December 2020 ...
.
From 1912 he lived and worked in a villa, with its own studio attached, in
Markkleeberg
Markkleeberg is an affluent suburb of Leipzig (district), Leipzig, located in the Leipzig (district), Leipzig district of the Saxony, Free State of Saxony, Germany. The river Pleiße runs through the city, which borders Leipzig to the north and t ...
which had been built according to his own plans.
Later he moved again to a villa in
Stötteritz where he passed his final years.
Many of Leinhart's works, cast in copper or bronze, were melted down during the first and second world wars in response to materials shortages.
File:AdolfLehnertPorträtHerrmann.JPG, Portraitmedaillon Joh. Carl Gustav Herrmann, Marmor, 1895
File:Denkmal Luise Otto-Peters.JPG, Denkmal für Louise Otto-Peters im Leipziger Rosental
Gutenberghalle Stirnwand.jpg, Gutenbergdenkmal im Deutschen Buchgewerbehaus, 1900
File:AdolfLehnertKuhne.JPG, Porträtmedaillon Grabstätte Louis Kuhne, Südfriedhof Leipzig, 1901
File:AdolfLehnertBronzereliefKrause.JPG, Bronzerelief 1, Grabmal Karl Krause, Neuer Johannisfriedhof, 1902
File:AdolfLehnertBronzereliefKarlKrause.JPG, Bronzerelief 2, Grabmal Karl Krause, Neuer Johannisfriedhof, 1902
File:AdolfLehnertReclam.JPG, Relief über dem Haupteingang des Reclam-Verlagsgebäudes, 1905
File:AdolfLehnertElsbethrelief.JPG, Marmorrelief für seine verstorbene Frau Elsbeth, geb. Riedel, 1907
File:Adolf LehnertPorträtrelief.JPG, Porträtmedaillon Grabstätte Lange-Lorenz, Südfriedhof Leipzig, 1915
File:AdolfLehnertSchwabe.JPG, Porträtmedaillon Grabstätte Dr. Ludwig Schwabe, Südfriedhof Leipzig, 1916
File:AdolfLehnertLodde.JPG, Marmorrelief Grabstätte Alfred Lodde, Südfriedhof Leipzig, 1917
File:LehnertHarrassowitz.JPG, Marmorfigur Grabmal Otto Harrassowitz, Südfriedhof Leipzig, 1920
File:AdolfLehnertNaumann.JPG, Trauernde mit Siegespalme, Grabmal Naumann, Südfriedhof Leipzig, 1920
File:Friedrich list statue at leipzig hauptbahnhof.jpg, Friedrich-List-Statue am Westausgang des Hauptbahnhofs Leipzig, 1927
File:Angel-Friedhof Lichterfelde.jpg, Grabengel ( Galvanoplastik) nach einem Modell von Adolf Lehnert
File:Samwer-Gotha-CTH.JPG, Marmorbüste Karl Samwer, 1928
File:Adolf LehnertGrimpe.JPG, Bronzebüste Georg Grimpe, Südfriedhof Leipzig, 1928
File:AdolfLehnertSignatur.JPG, Signatur Adolf Lehnert, Bronzebüste Georg Grimpe
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehnert, Adolf
1862 births
1948 deaths
Artists from Leipzig
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
German medallists
German printmakers
19th-century German sculptors
20th-century German sculptors
20th-century German male artists
Academic staff of the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig