Type: Limited edition prints
Size: 48cm x 33cm
Tirage: 50 copies
A pencil drawing of Josef Thorak’s “Danzing Freedom Monument” ( Danzinger Freiheitsdenkmal).
This was a 5 meter high statue of a male nude of Herculean proportions, wearing only a cape and holding a massive sword. Made in 1943 to commemorate the incorporation of the Free City of Danzig (created on 15 November 1920 in accordance with the terms of Article 100 (Section XI of Part III) of the 1919 Treaty of Versailles after the end of World War I) with Germany in September 2, 1939.
Josef Thorak (7 February 1889 in Vienna, Austria – 26 February 1952 in Bad Endorf, Bavaria) was an Austrian-German sculptor. He became known for oversize monumental sculptures, particularly of male figures, and was one of the most prominent sculptors of pre WWII Germany.
In 1937, he was named professor of sculpture at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts. Albert Speer referred to Thorak as "more or less my sculptor, who frequently designed statues and reliefs for my buildings".
Well known for his "grandiose monuments", Thorak was nicknamed "Professor Thorax" because of his preference for muscular neo-classical nude sculpture.
Thorak received the grand prize of the Prussian Academy of Arts in 1928 and a golden Papal medal in 1934 for his contribution to the Exhibition for International Christian Art. He was nominated in 1937 for the first German National Prize for Art and Science.
A street was named for him in Salzburg in 1963.
