Alojz Rigele (8 February 1879 – 14 February 1940) was a Slovak sculptor and painter. He spent most of his life working in today's Bratislava, where numerous examples of his statues survive to this day. Rigele was considered to be among the leading sculptors in

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. His specialty was sculpture, especially

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...

. Together with Robert Kühmayer, Jozef Arpád Murmann and Alojz Stróbl, Alojz Rigele was part of a group of famous artists that influenced the art and architecture of the city of Bratislava. This older generation of sculptors born before the 1900s often represented historical and social themes. Rigele was an active member of the Pressburger Kunstverein group and the Bratislava Beautification Association. The Alchymist from approximately 1920 is considered to be among Rigele's finest sculptures.

Biography

Alojz Rigele was born in 1879 in Pressburg (today Bratislava). His early education was at the modelling studio of the Bratislava decorative sculptor Adolf Messmer. He started exhibiting his works at Bratislava exhibitions since 1899. He studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...

from 1901 to 1908 under professor Jan Bitterlich and professor

Edmund von Hellmer Edmund Ritter von Hellmer (12 November 1850, Vienna – 9 March 1935, Vienna), born Edmund Hellmer and ennobled in 1912, was an Austrian sculptor who worked in the styles of Historicism and Art Nouveau. Life Hellmer studied architecture at ...

. As a winner of

Péter Pázmány Péter Pázmány de Panasz, S.J. ( hu, panaszi Pázmány Péter, ; la, Petrus Pazmanus; german: Peter Pazman; sk, Peter Pázmaň; 4 October 1570 – 19 March 1637), was a Hungarian Jesuit who was a noted philosopher, theologian, cardina ...

's epitaph in 1907, Rigele got a 2-year study opportunity at Rome where he lived from 1908 to 1910. In 1911, Rigele settled in Bratislava. He was a prolific author who took a large number of orders of varying scope, which resulted in the varying quality of his output. He created most of his works between 1897 and 1938. He received and declined numerous offers for professorship at universities in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

and

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

. Despite the arguable quality of some of his artworks, he never succeeded financially and he was not able to acquire his own professional studio. Alojz Rigele died in poverty in Bratislava in 1940. Numerous statues survive in public spaces particularly in Bratislava, but also in over 50 villages and towns in Slovakia,

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 ...

and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. Many of Rigele's statues and paintings are preserved at the

Bratislava City Gallery The Bratislava City Gallery ( sk, Galéria mesta Bratislava, abbr. GMB) is a gallery located in Bratislava, Slovakia, in the Old Town. It is the second largest Slovak gallery of its kind. The gallery is housed at the Mirbach Palace Mirbach Palac ...

Slovak National Gallery The Slovak National Gallery ( sk, Slovenská národná galéria, abbreviated SNG) is a network of galleries in Slovakia. It has its headquarters in Bratislava. The gallery was established by law on 29 July 1949. In Bratislava, it has its display ...

and the

Bratislava City Museum The Bratislava City Museum ( sk, Múzeum mesta Bratislavy, abbr. MMB) is a museum in Bratislava, Slovakia, established in 1868. Its headquarters are located in the Old Town, near the Main Square at the Old Town Hall. The museum is owned by one o ...

Rigele's studio

Rigele created his works in his rented apartment inside the Lanfranconi Palace at today's Námestie Ľ. Štúra and in his studio inside a yard of a house on Štefánikova Street. The studio was located at that time at No. 27a; today it is located at No. 35 – 41 behind three residential buildings. The studio is a low, narrow wooden structure with one wall made of glass. It was built in the 1890s by local construction

tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

Karl Mahr. Štefánina Street was from the 1840s the main road connecting the Bratislava main railway station with the city center. It was a street of luxury houses, palaces and villas. Karl Mahr acquired a land lot at this street which was used as a construction yard during the construction of buildings in the area. The yard was the headquarters of the notable stonemason company MAHR, which was owned by the unmarried sister of Karl Mahr. The Mahrs invested heavily into

war bonds that became valueless after the lost war. They had to sell all their houses and continued to live there as tenants. Alojz Rigele created most of his works inside this studio or outside, on the yard. Altogether, he used the studio for four decades and even long after his death in 1940 and the studio's later nationalization, there were parts of unfinished artworks lying around together with rare building materials including a piece of marble from the destroyed equestrian statue of Maria Theresa which stood at the today's Námestíe Ľ. Štúra. The studio is a Category 1A Cultural Monument of Bratislava under the name ''Ateliér firmy Mahr a Alojza Rigeleho''.

Gallery

File:Alojz Rigele 01.jpg, Alojz Rigele - atelier File:Alojz Rigele 02.jpg, Alojz Rigele - atelier File:Alojz Rigele 03.jpg, Alojz Rigele - atelier File:Alojz Rigele 04.jpg, Alojz Rigele - atelier

Surviving works

Awards

* Gundel's plaquette *

's epitaph (1907)

References

External links

Gallery of works by Alojz Rigele (in English)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rigele, Alojz 1879 births 1940 deaths Artists from Bratislava 20th-century sculptors Slovak sculptors