August Friedrich Johann Kraus (9 July 1868,

Ruhrort Ruhrort () is a district in the borough of within the German city of Duisburg situated north of the confluence of the Ruhr and the Rhine, in the western part of the Ruhr area. Ruhrort has the largest river harbour in the World, with quays extendin ...

- 8 February 1934,

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 ...

) was a German sculptor.

Life

He was the son of a coachman. In 1877, the family moved to

Baden-Baden Baden-Baden () is a spa town in the states of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg, south-western Germany, at the north-western border of the Black Forest mountain range on the small river Oos (river), Oos, ten kilometres (six miles) east of the ...

where he became an apprentice to a

headstone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...

sculptor. His family moved again in 1883, this time to

Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...

, and he continued his studies at the municipal Arts and Crafts School. From 1887 to 1891, he was enrolled at the Prussian Academy of Art in Berlin, where he studied with

Ernst Herter Ernst Gustav Herter (14 May 1846, Berlin – 19 December 1917, Berlin) was a German sculptor. He specialized in creating statues of mythological figures. Life and work Herter studied at the Academy of Arts in Berlin and later also as apprent ...

. For the next seven years, he was a Master Student of

Reinhold Begas Reinhold Begas (15 July 1831 – 3 August 1911) was a German sculptor. Biography Begas was born in Berlin, son of the painter Carl Joseph Begas. He received his early education (1846–1851) studying under Christian Daniel Rauch and Ludwig ...

and continued to work under his influence for some time after.Uta Lehnert: Der Kaiser und die Siegesallee. Réclame Royale, Dietrich Reimer Verlag, Berlin 1998, . In 1900. his work on the

Siegesallee The Siegesallee (, ''Victory Avenue'') was a broad boulevard in Berlin, Germany. In 1895, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered and financed the expansion of an existing avenue, to be adorned with a variety of marble statues. Work was completed in 1901. A ...

(Victory Avenue) project won him the Academy's "Staatspreis", which included a stipendium for five years of study in Rome. This enabled him to break away from his artistic and financial dependence on Begas. Once there, his style took a turn towards

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism was ...

. Upon his return, he became a member of the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artists "seceded," demonstrating ag ...

and served as its vice-president from 1911 to 1913.August Kraus. In:

Thieme-Becker Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was complet ...

, ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart''. Vol.21, E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1927, pg.444 He was Director of the Rauch-Museum from 1914 to 1920. The Sculptors' Association of Berlin elected him its first President. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics ( nl, Olympische Zomerspelen 1928), officially known as the Games of the IX Olympiad ( nl, Spelen van de IXe Olympiade) and commonly known as Amsterdam 1928, was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from ...

. After the Nazi

Machtergreifung Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

in 1933, he signed a Declaration of Loyalty to Hitler and became a member of the Presidential Council of the

Reichskulturkammer The Reich Chamber of Culture (''Reichskulturkammer'') was a government agency in Nazi Germany. It was established by law on 22 September 1933 in the course of the '' Gleichschaltung'' process at the instigation of Reich Minister Joseph Goebbels a ...

.Ernst Klee: ''Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945''. S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, Pg.334. That same year, he was appointed chairman of the Department of Fine Arts in a newly "cleansed" Academy and served as Provisional President until his death.Membership Databank of the Academy
/ref> It has been reported that he died at the exact moment his statue of Henry the Child in the Siegesallee was being damaged by a storm, but this is probably apocryphal. He is buried in the

Friedhof Heerstraße The Friedhof Heerstraße cemetery is located at Trakehnerallee 1 (''Trakehner avenue No.1''), district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin, Germany, to the east of the Olympic Stadium (Berlin), Olympiastadion. It covers an area of 149 ...

, but also has an "honorary grave" in Berlin.

Selected major works

*1898: Monument to the ''SMS Iltis'', a

gunboat A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies. History Pre-steam ...

which sank in a storm off the coast of

Shantung Shandong ( , ; ; alternately romanized as Shantung) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilizatio ...

; located along

The Bund The Bund or Waitan (, Shanghainese romanization: ''Nga3thae1'', , ) is a waterfront area and a protected historical district in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road (East Zhongshan Road No.1) within the former Shang ...

in the

Shanghai International Settlement The Shanghai International Settlement () originated from the merger in the year 1863 of the British and American enclaves in Shanghai, in which British subjects and American citizens would enjoy extraterritoriality and consular jurisdiction ...

. It was destroyed near the end of the World War I. *1900-1901: Figures in the Siegesallee, Berlin. Kraus was the youngest sculptor to work on the project. He was closely assisted and supervised by Reinhold Begas and produced two sets of figures: :Group 9, consisting of

Henry II, Margrave of Brandenburg-Stendal Henry II of Brandenburg-Stendal, nicknamed Henry the Younger or Henry the Child (german: Heinrich das Kind; – July 1320) was the last margrave of Brandenburg from the House of Ascania. Life Henry's parents were Margrave Henry I of Bran ...

(also known as "Henry the Child") in the central position, flanked by side figures of

Wartislaw IV, Duke of Pomerania Wartislaw IV or Vartislav IV (before 1290 – 1 August 1326) was Duke of Pomerania-Wolgast from 1309 until his death. He was the only son of Duke Bogislaw IV of Pomerania and his wife Margareta, a daughter of Vitslav II, Prince of Rügen. Vartis ...

and Wedigo von Plotho, a 14th Century knight, for which his friend Heinrich Zille was the model. :Group 32, with

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

as the central figure, flanked by Helmut von Moltke and

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

. There is some disagreement over the extent of Begas' contributions to this group. *1910: Statue of Heinrich Lanz, on the premises of

Heinrich Lanz AG Heinrich Lanz AG is a former agricultural machinery manufacturer from Mannheim, Germany. Its tractors were sold bearing the LANZ brand. LANZ won numerous awards at the Strasbourg Agricultural Fair in 1866; namely four Gold, five Silver, and t ...

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...

. *1926-28: "Knabe mit Ziege" (Boy with a Goat), in the Savignyplatz, Berlin. *1928: "Gefallenen-Denkmal" (Memorial to the Fallen), in the Hohenzollernpark in

Anklam Anklam [], formerly known as Tanglim and Wendenburg, is a town in the Western Pomerania region of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is situated on the banks of the Peene river, just 8 km from its mouth in the ''Kleines Haff'', the western ...

. *1929: The tomb of Heinrich Zille, Südwestkirchhof Stahnsdorf.

References

External links

ArtNet: Smaller figures and busts by Kraus

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kraus, August 1868 births 1934 deaths People from Duisburg Prussian Academy of Arts alumni 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists 19th-century German sculptors German male sculptors 19th-century German male artists Olympic competitors in art competitions

Life

Selected major works

References

Further reading

External links