Arno Lehmann (23 May 1905 – 11 May 1973) was a German

ceramicist Ceramic art is art made from ceramic materials, including clay. It may take forms including artistic pottery, including tableware, tiles, figurines and other sculpture. As one of the plastic arts, ceramic art is one of the visual arts. Wh ...

, sculptor and painter who spent most of his productive time in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Life and work

He was born on 23 May 1905 in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

where he spent his youth and his first creative phase. In 1945, his studio and entire work were destroyed in the bombing raids of Berlin. He found refuge in Austria. In 1949, he moved in to the

Hohensalzburg Castle Hohensalzburg Fortress (german: Festung Hohensalzburg, lit=High Salzburg Fortress) is a large medieval fortress in the city of Salzburg, Austria. It sits atop the Festungsberg at an altitude of 506 m. It was erected at the behest of the Prince-Arc ...

, high over the roofs of the city of

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

, where he made his studio and lived for the rest of his life. Lehmann is well-known for his animal sculptures. He experimented with techniques, forms and glazing and created his own distinctive style. In the late 1950s, he was inspired by abstract art. He incorporated the ideas of

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...

and used also metal, wire, wood and paper in his artworks. Arno Lehmann belongs to the greatest ceramicists of the 20th century. In 1955, Lehmann's ceramic sculpture of a gazelle was part of the exhibition ''Chefs-d'oeuvre de la céramique moderne'' in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. T ...

and was awarded the gold metal by the International Academy of Ceramics (the jury was chaired by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

). In 2007–2008, the

Salzburg Museum Housed in the ' (to which it moved in 2005), the Salzburg Museum is the museum of artistic and cultural history of the city and region of Salzburg, Austria. It originated as the Provincialmuseum and was also previously known as the Museum Carolino- ...

held a retrospective exhibition of Arno Lehmann's work. Among his notable works are the animal sculptures ''Weiße Gazelle'' (1953), ''Schwarze Gazelle'' (1955), ''Stier'' (1953),Photo of the artwork
/ref> sculptures ''Der Weg'' (1957) and ''Fuge von Bach''.

Legacy

There is an award named after Lehmann. The Salzburg state gives the „Arno Lehmann Preis für Keramik“ (Arno Lehmann Award for Ceramics) to the best ceramicists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehmann, Arno 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists 1905 births 1973 deaths Artists from Berlin German ceramists German male painters German expatriates in Austria 20th-century German painters 20th-century ceramists