Carl Nathanael Burckhardt (13 January 1878,

Lindau Lindau (, ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital ...

- 24 December 1923, Ligornetto) was a Swiss painter and sculptor. Although a modernist, his choice of subject matter was Neoclassically inspired.

Life and work

After his father's early death, his family moved to

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. He began his studies in 1896, as a student of the painter, Fritz Schider, then attended a private school operated by

Heinrich Knirr Heinrich Knirr (2 September 1862 – 26 May 1944) was an Austrian Empire-born German painter, known for his genre scenes and portraits, although he also did landscapes and still-lifes. He is best known for creating the official portrait of Adolf ...

in Munich. In 1899, he took a trip to Rome with his friend,

Heinrich Altherr Heinrich Altherr (11 April 1878, in Basel – 27 April 1947, in Zürich) was a Swiss painter. He is best known for his murals in churches and various public buildings. Biography His father, Alfred, was a pastor. He had his first art lessons fro ...

, drew his interests toward sculpting. In 1901, he started work on his first sculpture, featuring

Zeus Zeus (, ) is the chief deity of the List of Greek deities, Greek pantheon. He is a sky father, sky and thunder god in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, who rules as king of the gods on Mount Olympus. Zeus is the child ...

and

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

. He then came under the influence of

Max Klinger Max Klinger (18 February 1857 – 5 July 1920) was a German artist who produced significant work in painting, sculpture, prints and graphics, as well as writing a treatise articulating his ideas on art and the role of graphic arts and printmakin ...

and created a statue of

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

in 1904. Five years later, he won a competition for the design of

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development and growth *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ec ...

figures and façade

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

s at the

Kunsthaus Zürich The Kunsthaus Zürich is an art museum in Zurich. It is the biggest art museum in Switzerland by area and houses one of the most important art collections in Switzerland, assembled over time by the Zürcher Kunstgesellschaft, a nonprofit art soc ...

. The reliefs featured

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

figures that were cut by his assistant, in 1912. From 1913 until his death, he was an active member of the . One of his best known works is an

leading a horse, on the Mittlere Brücke. It is also his last work. The casting was done after his death. Other public works in Basel include the portal relief at the Pauluskirche and a bronze statue of

St. George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

slaying the dragon; which was awarded first prize in a competition held by the , to design a figure for a stairway in the Kohlenberg District."Sanierung der Bronzeskulptur Amazone bei der Mittleren Brücke"
@ Hochrhein Zeitung He was married to the painter, Sophie Hipp, younger sister of the painter . Their son was the religious scholar,

Titus Burckhardt Titus Burckhardt (; ; 24 October 1908 – 15 January 1984) was a Swiss writer and a leading member of the Perennialist or Traditionalist School. He was the author of numerous works on metaphysics, cosmology, anthropology, esoterism, alchemy, Su ...

. He died after a brief illness at his home in

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

. In 1954, a commemorative exhibition at the

Kunsthalle Basel Kunsthalle Basel is a contemporary art gallery in Basel, Switzerland. As Switzerland's oldest and still most active institution for contemporary art established in the year of 1872, Kunsthalle Basel forms a vital part of Basel's cultural centre ...

featured works by Burckhardt and . A major retrospective was held in 2018 at the

Museo Vincenzo Vela Vincenzo Vela (May 3, 1820 - October 3, 1891) was a Swiss-Italian sculptor, active mainly in northern Italy. Biography Vela was born in Ligornetto in the canton of Ticino to parents of little means. Having started work as boy as a stonecutter ...

in Ligornetto.

Selected works

File:Carl Burckhardt Wiese 2015.jpg, Northern fountain at the

Basel Badischer Bahnhof Basel Badischer Bahnhof (Basel Baden Railway station; abbreviated ''Basel Bad'') is a railway station in the Swiss city of Basel 2 km south of the Germany–Switzerland border. Despite its location, its land is an enclave of the EU Customs Unio ...

File:Carl Burckhardt Amazone.jpg, Amazon Leading a Horse, at the Mittlere Brücke File:Carl Burckhardt Basel.jpg, St. George and the Dragon File:Carl Burckhardt Rhein 2015.jpg, Southern fountain, at the Bahnhof

References

External links

* 1998, überarbeitet 2011 * 2003
Publications on Carl Burckhardt
@ the Katalog Helveticat of the Schweizerische Nationalbibliothek * * Wilhelm Barth
Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burckhardt, Carl 1878 births 1923 deaths Swiss painters Swiss sculptors People from Pfäffikon District

Life and work

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links