Alexander Oppler on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Alexander Oppler (10 February 1869 – 18 March 1937) was a German sculptor of Jewish ancestry; best known for his
More works by Oppler
@ the Victoria & Albert Museum
Drawings by Oppler
@ the Jewish Museum Berlin {{DEFAULTSORT:Oppler, Alexander 1869 births 1937 deaths 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists German male sculptors Art competitors at the 1928 Summer Olympics People from Hanover
Alexander Oppler (10 February 1869 – 18 March 1937) was a German sculptor of Jewish ancestry; best known for his portrait bust
A bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human body, depicting a person's head and neck, and a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. The bust is generally a portr ...
s. He also worked as a medallist.
Life and work
His father was the architect, Edwin Oppler. His older brother, Ernst, was a painter and etcher. He had two younger brothers who were also well known; , a doctor, and , ajurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
.
From 1888 he studied art; first at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich
The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany.
In the second half of the 19th centur ...
, then at the Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts
The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of Brussels ( ''(ArBA-EsA)''; ) is an art school in Brussels, Belgium, founded in 1711. Starting from modest beginnings in a single room in Brussels Town Hall, Brussels' Town Hall, it has since 1876 been operat ...
in Brussels and the Académie des Beaux-Arts
The (; ) is a French learned society based in Paris. It is one of the five academies of the . The current president of the academy (2021) is Alain-Charles Perrot, a French architect.
Background
The academy was created in 1816 in Paris as a me ...
in Paris. He was a member of the Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and Berlin Secessions.
He was an early member of the Deutscher Künstlerbund (Artists' Association), and took part in their first exhibition, in 1904, at what is now the Staatliche Antikensammlungen (antiquities collection) in Munich; represented by two marble statues and a plaster bust.
Among his best known works is a bust of the artist, André Derain
André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse.
In 2025, all of Derain’s work entered the public domain in the United States.
Life and career
Early ...
. He considered his most important work to be the fountain at in Berlin, which the Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
destroyed.Jochen Bruns: ''Ernst Oppler.(1867–1929). Leben und Werk. Mit einem Werkkatalog seiner Ölgemälde und Druckgraphiken'', Münster, 1993, Vol.1, pg.271 A sculpture he created for his family grave at the has also been lost. Many of his works were saved by his daughter Ellen, when she emigrated to the United States. They were later donated to the Brevard Art Center (now the Foosaner Art Museum) in Melbourne, Florida
Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...
.
His works may also be seen at the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne, the Museum Kunst Palast in Düsseldorf, the Museum August Kestner in Hanover, and the Landesmuseum Württemberg in Stuttgart.
References
Further reading
* "Oppler, Alexander". In: Hans Vollmer (Ed.): ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol.26: Olivier–Pieris. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1932, pg.33 * Salomon Wininger: ''Große jüdische National-Biographie'', Vol.4. Orient Verlag, 1927, pg.585External links
More works by Oppler
@ the Victoria & Albert Museum
Drawings by Oppler
@ the Jewish Museum Berlin {{DEFAULTSORT:Oppler, Alexander 1869 births 1937 deaths 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists German male sculptors Art competitors at the 1928 Summer Olympics People from Hanover