Bruno Zach (6 May 1891 – 20 February 1935) was an Austrian

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unit ...

sculptor of Ukrainian birth who worked in the early-to-mid 20th century. His output included a wide repertoire of genre subjects, however he is best known for his

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, scu ...

sculptures of young women.

Early life

Bruno Zach was born in

Zhytomyr Zhytomyr ( uk, Жито́мир, translit=Zhytomyr ; russian: Жито́мир, Zhitomir ; pl, Żytomierz ; yi, זשיטאָמיר, Zhitomir; german: Schytomyr ) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the administrative ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inva ...

, on 6 May 1891. He emigrated to

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 ...

as a young man and studied at the Vienna Academy under sculptors

Hans Bitterlich Hans Bitterlich (28 April 1860, Vienna - 5 August 1949, Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor. Life and work His father was the sculptor and history painter, Eduard Bitterlich. He studied with Edmund von Hellmer and Kaspar von Zumbusch, and was ...

(1860–1949) and Josef Müllner (1879–1968). His styles ranged from art deco,

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

, sporting, to

orientalism In art history, literature and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects in the Eastern world. These depictions are usually done by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. In particular, Orientalist p ...

. His oeuvre would generally be considered decorative if not for his success in producing erotic sculpture.

Career

Zach became a prolific creator of sculptures featuring tall, athletic, dominating women in

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids suc ...

and

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

, the combination of the two in art casting sometimes being referred to as “

chryselephantine Chryselephantine sculpture (from Greek grc, χρυσός, chrysós, gold, label=none, and grc, ελεφάντινος, elephántinos, ivory, label=none) is sculpture made with gold and ivory. Chryselephantine cult statues enjoyed high status ...

”. He most often signed as "B. Zach" or "Bruno Zach", however a number of his pieces were signed with his pseudonyms, being "Prof. Tuch", "Professor Tuch" or "K. Salat".Simpson Galleries
Auction 22.02.2015, Lot 272 His

erotica Erotica is literature or art that deals substantively with subject matter that is erotic, sexually stimulating or sexually arousing. Some critics regard pornography as a type of erotica, but many consider it to be different. Erotic art may use ...

sculptures usually featured sexy, dreamy, scantily clad mistresses in stockings,

garters A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking ...

, and

high heels High-heeled shoes, also known as high heels, are a type of shoe with an angled sole. The heel in such shoes is raised above the ball of the foot. High heels cause the legs to appear longer, make the wearer appear taller, and accentuate the ...

. One of his better known sculptures is the sado-masochistic '' The Riding Crop''. Original period castings of this sculpture have sold for as much as $151,849, one such sale having taken place at the

Bonhams Bonhams is a privately owned international auction house and one of the world's oldest and largest auctioneers of fine art and antiques. It was formed by the merger in November 2001 of Bonhams & Brooks and Phillips Son & Neale. This brought to ...

auction house in

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Toponymy Knightsbridge is an ancien ...

on 23 November 2011. According to Bonhams' director of decorative arts, Mark Oliver, "the demand for his work just grows and grows". One of Zach's more controversial sculptures, created circa 1930, was his extremely erotic piece entitled ''The Hugger''. The sculpture depicts a woman hugging a larger-than-life

penis A penis (plural ''penises'' or ''penes'' () is the primary sexual organ that male animals use to inseminate females (or hermaphrodites) during copulation. Such organs occur in many animals, both vertebrate and invertebrate, but males d ...

. Zach frequently portrayed the seedy side of nightlife 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 constitu ...

with many of his sculptures which often featured prostitutes. His bronze sculptures were generally fired and coated with chemical patinas in mid-brown colors but were sometimes cold painted or

polychrome Polychrome is the "practice of decorating architectural elements, sculpture, etc., in a variety of colors." The term is used to refer to certain styles of architecture, pottery or sculpture in multiple colors. Ancient Egypt Colossal statu ...

d. His used ivory, sparingly, and it was generally well carved. Zach's work was edited by several firms, including Argentor-Werke (Vienna), Broma Companie, S. Altmann and Company, and Franz Bergmann.

Death

Zach died in

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, on 20 February 1935.

References

Literature

* Davenport's Art Reference & Price Guide, 2007/2008 Edition – . * Romeo and Juliet in Zhytomyr words, 2016

* Житомирська сторінка кохання скульптора Бруно Зака

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zach, Bruno Austrian sculptors Austrian male sculptors Art Deco sculptors 1891 births 1935 deaths Artists from Zhytomyr People from Volhynian Governorate Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Austria-Hungary 20th-century sculptors Fetish artists Ukrainian male sculptors