Josef Lorenzl (1 September 1892 – 15 August 1950) was an Austrian sculptor and ceramicist of the

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 Unite ...

period, the same era as

Ferdinand Preiss Johann Philipp Ferdinand Preiss (13 February 1882 – 29 July 1943) was a German sculptor. He was one of the leading sculptors of the Art Deco period. Early life Ferdinand Preiss was born in Erbach im Odenwald as one of six children to Karl ...

(1882–1943) and

Demetre Chiparus Demetre is an Old Greek Old Greek is the Greek language as spoken from Late Antiquity (c. AD 400) to around AD 1500. Greek spoken during this period is usually split into: *Late Greek (c. 400 – c. 800 AD) *Medieval Greek (c. 800 – c. 1500 AD ...

(1886–1947).

Early life

Lorenzl was born on 1 September 1882 in

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

, Austria and died there on 15 August 1950. Little is known about his early years, but more is known about his later life. Lorenzl started his career working at a foundry at the Vienna Arsenal where he learned the techniques of bronze casting. The Vienna Arsenal was a military storage complex located in the south-eastern part of Vienna.

Career

While at the Vienna Arsenal, Lorenzl produced many bronze and

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 ...

sculptures, the latter using both bronze and ivory, and captivated by the female form he became famed for his shapely dancing girls with long, elegant legs and closed eyes. These pieces of his were signed "Enzl", "Lor", "R. Lor", "Renz" or "Renzl". Occasionally the name "Crejo" appears on his pieces, Crejo having been a painter and one of Lorenzl's friends, and who sometimes applied colour to the pieces. These joint works are sought-after items. The large majority of Lorenzl's figurines were attached to Brazilian green

onyx Onyx primarily refers to the parallel banded variety of chalcedony, a silicate mineral. Agate and onyx are both varieties of layered chalcedony that differ only in the form of the bands: agate has curved bands and onyx has parallel bands. The ...

plinths. Lorenzl's talents also extended to being a gifted ceramicist. He produced pieces for Goldscheider, working from a studio on company grounds. As with his chryselephantine pieces, his ceramic works were in great demand and became the embodiment of the Art Déco period. Famous amongst these is "The Butterfly Girl" after the famous dancer Niddy Impekoven from the 1920s. Lorenzl also worked for two other Viennese firms, Porzellanfabrik Hertwig & Co. and Keramos Porcelain. 'Keramos' or 'Wiener Kunst-Keramik und Porzellan Manufaktur AG' was founded in 1910 by several disabled war veterans, subsidised by Austria and later became a public company, directed by Otto Köller, and Rudof and Heinrich Wolf. It was located in Schwarze Adlerstiege, while the factory operated from 17 Schleiergasse.

Death

After Lorenzl's death on 15 August 1950, his wife Anna (Njura) Lorenzl, destroyed a large number of his figurines.

Bibliography

* Robert E. Dechant, F. Goldscheider: Goldscheider. Firmengeschichte und Werkverzeichnis. Historismus, Jugendstil, Art Déco, 1950er Jahre. Arnoldsche, Stuttgart 2007, .

References

6
20decoarts.com – Josef Lorenzl Images

External links

''Hickmet Fine Arts''''World Collectors Net''Deco Interiors
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorenzl, Josef Austrian sculptors Austrian male sculptors Art Deco sculptors Austrian ceramists 1892 births 1950 deaths 20th-century ceramists