''Arthur Schopenhauer'' is a sculpture of German philosopher

Arthur Schopenhauer Arthur Schopenhauer ( , ; 22 February 1788 – 21 September 1860) was a German philosopher. He is best known for his 1818 work ''The World as Will and Representation'' (expanded in 1844), which characterizes the phenomenal world as the prod ...

by sculptor

Elisabet Ney Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney (26 January 1833 – 29 June 1907) was a German-American sculptor who spent the first half of her life and career in Europe, producing portraits of famous leaders such as Otto von Bismarck, Giuseppe G ...

. Completed in 1859, the piece is a portrait

bust Bust commonly refers to: * A woman's breasts * Bust (sculpture), of head and shoulders * An arrest Bust may also refer to: Places *Bust, Bas-Rhin, a city in France *Lashkargah, Afghanistan, known as Bust historically Media * ''Bust'' (magazine ...

rendered in

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

. The bust was modeled and carved in Germany, but it is now held by the

Elisabet Ney Museum The Elisabet Ney Museum is a museum located in Austin, Texas, United States. It is housed in the former studio of sculptor Elisabet Ney and is dedicated to showcasing her life and works. There is a permanent collection of her portrait busts and p ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, United States.

History

As a young artist 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 ...

had sculpted various luminaries of the city, including

Jacob Grimm Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm (4 January 1785 – 20 September 1863), also known as Ludwig Karl, was a German author, linguist, philologist, jurist, and folklorist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm's law of linguistics, the co-author of th ...

Cosima Liszt Francesca Gaetana Cosima Wagner ( née Liszt; 24 December 1837 – 1 April 1930) was the daughter of the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt and Franco-German romantic author Marie d'Agoult. She became the second wife of the German com ...

, and

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 17696 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, naturalist, explorer, and proponent of Romantic philosophy and science. He was the younger brother of the Prussian minister, p ...

. Ney had been patronized by the naturalist Humboldt, sculptor

Christian Rauch Christian Daniel Rauch (2 January 1777 – 3 December 1857) was a German sculptor. He founded the Berlin school of sculpture, and was the foremost German sculptor of the 19th century. Life Rauch was born at Arolsen in the Principality of ...

, and diplomat

Varnhagen von Ense Karl August Varnhagen von Ense (21 February 1785 in Düsseldorf – 10 October 1858 in Berlin) was a German biographer, diplomat and soldier. Life and career He was born in Düsseldorf, the younger brother of Rosa Maria Varnhagen, a noted poet, w ...

; when all three died between late 1857 and mid 1859, she decided to travel Germany in search of new notable subjects. In the autumn of 1859, she went to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

to make a sculpture of prominent philosopher

. Ney called on Schopenhauer uninvited and unannounced, and at first he refused to be her model. Nonetheless, she soon persuaded him to sit for her, and the two developed a friendship as she composed the portrait. After finishing the portrait in

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, Ney returned to her studio in Berlin to render the piece in

later in 1859. In the year after its completion, the marble was shown in Frankfurt, Berlin, and

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 ...

(where Schopenhauer's publisher was located); Ney also showed the work at the

Paris Salon The Salon (french: Salon), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art ...

of 1861, together with her

portrait bust A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, and a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. The bust is generally a p ...

Eilhard Mitscherlich Eilhard Mitscherlich (; 7 January 179428 August 1863) was a German chemist, who is perhaps best remembered today for his discovery of the phenomenon of crystallographic isomorphism in 1819. Early life and work Mitscherlich was born at Neuende ...

. The piece is now owned by the

, where Ney moved later in life.

Design and reception

''Schopenhauer'' depicts its subject at age seventy-one, a year before his death. The bust prominently features Schopenhauer's much-caricatured bald crown, unruly hair and shaggy

sideburns Sideburns, sideboards, or side whiskers are facial hair grown on the sides of the face, extending from the hairline to run parallel to or beyond the ears. The term ''sideburns'' is a 19th-century corruption of the original ''burnsides'', named ...

. The figure is unclothed, showing the subject's bare shoulders and upper chest. The eyes are lightly incised, and the head is slightly tilted, with an ambiguous expression; these details make the portrait more personal than Ney's earlier, more strictly neoclassical works. ''Schopenhauer'' was considered to be a good likeness of its subject, if flattering. The work was well received by critics, and also by Schopenhauer himself, who had been deeply displeased with his own earlier portraits in painting and photography. The success of the piece contributed to Ney's commission for her next major work, a bust of King

George V of Hanover en, George Frederick Alexander Charles Ernest Augustus , house = Hanover , religion = Protestant , father = Ernest Augustus, King of Hanover , mother = Frederica of Mecklenburg-Strelitz , birth_date = 27 May 1819 , ...

References

{{Arthur Schopenhauer 1859 sculptures Arthur Schopenhauer Busts in Texas Busts of writers Marble sculptures in Texas Sculptures by Elisabet Ney Sculptures of men in Texas