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 Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

, where numerous examples of his statues survive to this day. Rigele was considered to be among the leading sculptors in

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. His specialty was sculpture, especially

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better 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 Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

(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 () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

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 t ...

. As a winner of

Péter Pázmány Péter Pázmány de Panasz, S.J. (, ; ; ; ; 4 October 1570 – 19 March 1637), was a Hungarian Jesuit who was a noted philosopher, theologian, cardinal, pulpit orator and statesman. He was an important figure in the Counter-Reformation ...

'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 ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

and

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. 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, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much 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 south, Croatia and ...

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

Bratislava City Gallery The Bratislava City Gallery (, abbr. GMB) is a gallery located in Bratislava, Slovakia, in the Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities ...

Slovak National Gallery The Slovak National Gallery (, 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 displays situated in Esterházy Palace (' ...

and the

Bratislava City Museum The Bratislava City Museum (, abbr. MMB) is a museum in Bratislava, Slovakia, established in 1868. Its headquarters are located in the Old Town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually ...

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 A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

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 an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

Karl Mahr. Štefánina Street was from the 1840s the main road connecting the

Bratislava main railway station Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Slovakia, Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all List of cities and towns on the river Danube, cities on the river Danube. ...

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 Nationalization (nationalisation in British English) is the process of transforming privately owned assets into public assets by bringing them under the public ownership of a national government or state. Nationalization contrasts with p ...

, 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 Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia Walburga Amalia Christina; 13 May 1717 – 29 November 1780) was the ruler of the Habsburg monarchy from 1740 until her death in 1780, and the only woman to hold the position suo jure, in her own right. She was the ...

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 Slovak sculptors