Franz Weissmann - Grande Flor Tropical 01

Franz Josef Weissmann (September 15, 1911 – July 18, 2005) was a Brazilian sculptor born in Austria, emigrating to Brazil while he was eleven years old. Geometric shapes, like cubes and squares, are strongly featured in his works. He was one of the founders of the

Neo-Concrete Movement The Neo-Concrete Movement (1959–61) was a Brazilian art movement, a group that splintered off from the larger Concrete Art movement prevalent in Latin America and in other parts of the world. The Neo-Concretes emerged from Rio de Janeiro’s Grupo ...

Early life and education

Weissmann was born in

Knittelfeld Knittelfeld is a city in Styria, Austria, located on the banks of the Mur river. The name of the town has become notorious for the Knittelfeld Putsch of September 7, 2002, a party meeting of the Freedom Party of Austria, which resulted in the ...

, Austria. He came to Brasil in 1921. In

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, between 1939 and 1941, he attended architecture, painting, drawing and sculpture classes at the National School of Fine Arts. From 1942 to 1944, he studied drawing, sculpture, modeling and foundry with August Zamoyski. In 1945, he moved to

Belo Horizonte Belo Horizonte (, ; ) is the sixth-largest city in Brazil, with a population around 2.7 million and with a metropolitan area of 6 million people. It is the 13th-largest city in South America and the 18th-largest in the Americas. The metropol ...

where he taught drawing and sculpture in private classes. Three years later, Alberto da Veiga Guignard invited him to teach at the "Escola do Parque", later renamed Escola Guignard.

Career

Starting from 1950 onwards, he gradually developed a constructivist style, favoring geometric shapes, cutting and folding sheets of iron, steel wires and aluminum. He joined

Grupo Frente Grupo Frente was a group of Brazilian artists originated in Rio de Janeiro which existed from 1952-64. The group was led by Ivan Serpa, and was formed by artists such as Helio Oiticica, Aluisio Carvão, Lygia Clark, and Lygia Pape. Many of them s ...

, in 1955. The next year, he returned to

and participated in the

National Exposition of Concrete Art National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

in 1957. In 1959 Weissmann traveled to Europe and East Asia, returning to Brazil in 1965. In the 1960s, Weissmann exhibits the series of sculptures ''Amassados'' (''Dented''), which he created in Europe with hammered zinc and aluminum sheets, aligning himself briefly to informalism. Later on he returned to the constructivist works. In 1970 he won the award for best sculptor by the Brazilian Association of Art Critics and participated in the International Outdoor Sculpture Biennial, in

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

, and at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

. Weissmann made several public art sculptures for Brazilian cities, like at

Praça da Sé Praça da Sé (English: ''See Square'') is a public space in São Paulo, Brazil. Considered as the city's central point, it is the point from where the distance of all roads passing through São Paulo are counted. The square was the location of man ...

, in São Paulo and at Parque da Catacumba, in Rio de Janeiro. He kept studios in

(1950);

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, (1962) and

Ipanema Ipanema () is a neighbourhood located in the South Zone of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, between Leblon and Arpoador. The beach at Ipanema became known internationally with the popularity of the bossa nova jazz song, "The Girl from Ipane ...

, Rio de Janeiro (1956 and 1965).

Individual exhibitions

* 1962 Galeria São Jorge – Madri, Espanha * 1963 Casa do Brasil – Roma, Itália * 1964 Weissmann: chapas/dibujos' – Sala Nebli – Madri, Espanha * 1972 Galeria Grupo B -Rio de Janeiro * 1975 Franz Weissmann: esculturas, relevos e múltiplos' – Galeria de Arte Global -São Paulo * 1975 Petite Galerie – Rio de Janeiro * 1981 A Mecânica do Lirismo – Skultura Galeria de Arte – São Paulo * 1981 Franz Weissmann – Galeria IAB/RJ – Rio de Janeiro * 1981 Galerie Aktuell – Rio de Janeiro * 1984 A Mecânica do Lirismo – Galeria Paulo Klabin – Rio de Janeiro * 1985 Franz Weissmann: esculturas recentes – Galeria Thomas Cohn * 1985 Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud – São Paulo * 1987 Franz Weissmann – Gesto Gráfico – Belo Horizonte * 1987 Franz Weissmann – Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud – São Paulo * 1987 Franz Weissmann – Galeria Investiarte – Rio de Janeiro * 1994 Franz Weissmann – Gabinete de Arte Raquel Arnaud – São Paulo * 1996 MuBe – São Paulo * 1998 Franz Weissmann: uma retrospectiva – CCBB e MAM/RJ * 1999 Franz Weissmann: uma retrospectiva – MAM/SP * 2000 Weissmann – Galeria Anna Maria Niemeyer RJ * 2001 Weissmann – Casa França Brasil – RJ * 2003 No Fio do Espaço – Galeria Anna Maria Niemeyer RJ

Selected works

* , 1953

References

External links

Página Oficial: Franz Weissmann

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20040329201522/http://www.convest.unicamp.br/vest_ant/2002/download/comentadas/Arquitetura.pdf Caderno de Questões Vestibular Unicamp 2002
Escultura – Funarj RJ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weissmann, Franz Brazilian people of Austrian-Jewish descent Brazilian sculptors 1911 births 2005 deaths Austrian emigrants to Brazil