![Georg Treu 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Georg_Treu_2.jpg)
Georg Treu (29 March 1843 (
OS), Saint Petersburg – 5 October 1921,
Dresden
Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...
) was a
Classical archaeologist
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth-century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about i ...
and curator of the sculpture collection at the
Albertinum
The Albertinum () is a modern art museum. The sandstone-clad Renaissance Revival building is located on Brühl's Terrace in the historic center of Dresden, Germany. It is named after King Albert of Saxony.
The Albertinum hosts the New Masters G ...
.
Life
He began as a theology student at the
University of Dorpat
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
, then took up archaeology at the
Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative o ...
. In 1866, he became a research assistant in the antiquities collection at the
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the list of ...
and received his PhD in 1874 from the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...
. He returned to Berlin, where he became a lecturer at the University and Assistant Director for the
Berlin State Museums
The Berlin State Museums (german: Staatliche Museen zu Berlin) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters, several research institutes, libraries, and supporting facilities. They are overseen ...
.
During the excavations in
Olympia
The name Olympia may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Film
* ''Olympia'' (1938 film), by Leni Riefenstahl, documenting the Berlin-hosted Olympic Games
* ''Olympia'' (1998 film), about a Mexican soap opera star who pursues a career as an athlet ...
from 1875 to 1881, he was appointed temporary manager. In 1882, he was appointed to replace
Hermann Theodor Hettner
Hermann Julius Theodor Hettner (March 12, 1821 – May 29, 1882), was a German literary historian and museum director.
Biography
He was born at Leisersdorf ( Uniejowice), near Goldberg (Złotoryja), in Silesia. At the universities of Berlin, ...
as curator of the sculpture collection at the Albertinum and served in this position until 1915. He worked to expand the collection, acquiring vases and works in
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
as well as sculptures.
![Georg Treu 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/38/Georg_Treu_3.jpg)
When the
Cabinet of Curiosities belonging to the former
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz.
In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...
was broken up, he took the opportunity to integrate Renaissance and Baroque sculptures into the collection. Several works were acquired through his contacts with contemporary artists such as
Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
,
Constantin Meunier
Constantin Meunier (12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian painter and sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and miner to an icon of mode ...
and
Max Klinger
Max Klinger (18 February 1857 – 5 July 1920) was a German artist who produced significant work in painting, sculpture, prints and graphics, as well as writing a treatise articulating his ideas on art and the role of graphic arts and printmak ...
, adding a modern perspective. In 1891, he opened a collection of
casts, which served as a model when
Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetayev established the
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (russian: Музей изобразительных искусств имени А. С. Пушкина, abbreviated as ) is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just oppo ...
. Finally, in 1900, he opened the Sammlung Treus (Treu's Collection) to document the history of sculpture.
In addition to his duties at the Albertinum, he taught at the
Dresden Academy of Fine Arts
The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the product o ...
and the
Royal Saxon Polytechnic
TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...
, where he also managed the art collection. He received an honorary doctorate from the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen ( sco, University o' 'Aiberdeen; abbreviated as ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; gd, Oilthigh Obar Dheathain) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Sc ...
in 1906 and one from the Polytechnic in 1913.
His grave in the is decorated with a relief by the sculptor
Robert Diez
Robert Diez (20 April 1844 in Pößneck – 7 October 1922 in Loschwitz) was a German sculptor.
Life
He was the son of Pößneck's Mayor. His artistic inclinations began to emerge at his grandparents home in Sonneberg, the center of the Ge ...
. The area between the Albertinum and the Art Academy was named the Georg-Treu-Platz in his honor.
Selected writings
* ''Griechische Tongefäße in Statuetten- und Büstenform'' (Greek Pottery in Statue and Bust Form), 1875. Available (print-on-demand) from the
University of Michigan Library
The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the second largest research library by number of volumes in the United State ...
.
* ''Hermes mit dem Dionysosknaben'' (Hermes and the Infant Dionysus), 1878
[Zeno: Georg Treu (Excerpt from Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon)](_blank)
/ref>
* ''Die Bildwerke von Olympia in Stein und Ton'' (The Sculptures of Olympia in Stone and Clay), 1894
* ''Max Klinger als Bildhauer'' (Max Klinger as a sculptor). In: ''Pan 5''. Issue 1, 1899/1900, S. 27–35. (Special Edition, Leipzig/Berlin, 1900.) Reissued in book form by the Nabu Press (2013)
* ''Hellenische Stimmungen in der Bildhauerei'' (Hellenic Moods in Sculpture), 1910
References
Further reading
* Erhard Hexelschneider, Alexander Baranov : ''"In Moskau ein kleines Albertinum bauen". Ivan Tsvetayev und Georg Treu im Briefwechsel''. Cologne, Böhlau 2006.
* Dorit Petschel
Dorit Petschel, married name Körner (born 1970), is a German historian and teacher.
Life
After the Abitur in 1988, Petschel studied German culture and History at the and at the Technische Universität Dresden respectively until 1993 and obtai ...
(Ed.): ''Die Professoren der TU Dresden 1828–2003''. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne/ Weimar / Vienna 2003, .
* Heiner Protzmann: ''Salome: Zur Polychromie in der Skulptur: Aus der Korrespondenz Max Klingers mit Georg Treu''. In: ''Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden'', 14, 1982, S. 61–72.
* Heiner Protzmann: ''Dokumente zur Beziehung Treus zu Klinger''. In: ''Das Albertinum vor 100 Jahren, Die Skulpturensammlung Georg Treus'', Catalog. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden 1994.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treu
1843 births
1921 deaths
German classical scholars
Archaeologists from Dresden
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany
Directors of museums in Germany