Arno Lehmann (23 May 1905 – 11 May 1973) was a German ceramicist, sculptor and painter who spent most of his productive time in

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 ...

Life and work

He was born on 23 May 1905 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

where he spent his youth and his first creative phase. In 1945, his studio and entire work were destroyed in the bombing raids of Berlin. He found refuge in Austria. In 1949, he moved in to the

Hohensalzburg Castle Hohensalzburg Fortress () is a large medieval fortress in the city of Salzburg, Austria. It sits atop the Festungsberg mountain at an altitude of 506 m. It was erected at the behest of the prince-archbishops of Salzburg. The fortress is long a ...

, high over the roofs of the city of

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

, where he made his studio and lived for the rest of his life. Lehmann is well-known for his animal sculptures. He experimented with techniques, forms and glazing and created his own distinctive style. In the late 1950s, he was inspired by

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

. He incorporated the ideas of

cubism Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and used also metal, wire, wood and paper in his artworks. Arno Lehmann belongs to the greatest ceramicists of the 20th century. In 1955, Lehmann's ceramic sculpture of a gazelle was part of the exhibition ''Chefs-d'oeuvre de la céramique moderne'' in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

and was awarded the gold medal by the International Academy of Ceramics (the jury was chaired by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

). In 2007–2008, the

Salzburg Museum Housed in the ' (to which it moved in 2005), the Salzburg Museum is the museum of artistic and cultural history of the city and region of Salzburg, Austria. It originated as the Provincialmuseum and was also previously known as the Museum Carolino- ...

held a retrospective exhibition of Arno Lehmann's work. Among his notable works are the animal sculptures ''Weiße Gazelle'' (1953), ''Schwarze Gazelle'' (1955), ''Stier'' (1953),Photo of the artwork
/ref> sculptures ''Der Weg'' (1957) and ''Fuge von Bach''.

Legacy

There is an award named after Lehmann. The

Salzburg state Salzburg (, ; , also known as ''Salzburgerland''; ) is an Austria, Austrian Federal states of Austria, federal state. In German it is called a , a German-to-English dictionary translates that to ''federal state'' and the European Commission calls ...

gives the „Arno Lehmann Preis für Keramik“ (Arno Lehmann Award for Ceramics) to the best ceramicists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lehmann, Arno 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists 1905 births 1973 deaths Artists from Berlin German ceramists German male painters German expatriates in Austria 20th-century German painters 20th-century ceramists