
Georg Treu (29 March 1843 (
OS), Saint Petersburg – 5 October 1921,
Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
) was a
Classical archaeologist and curator of the sculpture collection at the
Albertinum
The Albertinum () is a modern art museum. The sandstone-clad Renaissance Revival architecture, Renaissance Revival building is located on Brühl's Terrace in the historic center of Dresden, Germany. It is named after King Albert, King of Saxony, A ...
.
Life
He began as a theology student at the
Imperial University of Dorpat
The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country. , then took up archaeology at the
Humboldt University of Berlin
The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany.
The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...
. In 1866, he became a research assistant in the antiquities collection at the
Hermitage Museum
The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and holds the large ...
and received his PhD in 1874 from the
University of Göttingen
The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen (, commonly referred to as Georgia Augusta), is a Public university, public research university in the city of Göttingen, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1734 ...
. He returned to Berlin, where he became a lecturer at the University and Assistant Director for the
Berlin State Museums
The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters; several research institutes; libraries; and supporting facilities. They are overseen by the ...
.
During the excavations in
Olympia from 1875 to 1881, he was appointed temporary manager. In 1882, he was appointed to replace
Hermann Theodor Hettner
Hermann Julius Theodor Hettner (March 12, 1821 – May 29, 1882), was a German literary historian and museum director.
Biography
He was born at Leisersdorf ( Uniejowice), near Goldberg (Złotoryja), in Silesia. At the universities of Berlin, ...
as curator of the sculpture collection at the Albertinum and served in this position until 1915. He worked to expand the collection, acquiring vases and works in
terracotta
Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
as well as sculptures.

When the
Cabinet of Curiosities
Cabinets of curiosities ( and ), also known as wonder-rooms ( ), were encyclopedic collections of objects whose categorical boundaries were, in Renaissance Europe, yet to be defined. Although more rudimentary collections had preceded them, t ...
belonging to the former
Electorate of Saxony
The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony ( or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356 to 1806 initially centred on Wittenberg that came to include areas around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. It was a ...
was broken up, he took the opportunity to integrate Renaissance and Baroque sculptures into the collection. Several works were acquired through his contacts with contemporary artists such as
Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (; ; 12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a u ...
,
Constantin Meunier
Constantin Meunier (; 12 April 1831 – 4 April 1905) was a Belgian Painting, painter and sculpture, sculptor. He made an important contribution to the development of modern art by elevating the image of the industrial worker, docker and mi ...
and
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 ...
, adding a modern perspective. In 1891, he opened a collection of
casts, which served as a model when
Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetayev established the
Pushkin Museum
The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts (, abbreviated as , ''GMII'') is the largest museum of European art in Moscow. It is located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Sviatos ...
. Finally, in 1900, he opened the Sammlung Treus (Treu's Collection) to document the history of sculpture.
In addition to his duties at the Albertinum, he taught at the
Dresden Academy of Fine Arts
The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German language, German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institutio ...
and the
Royal Saxon Polytechnic, where he also managed the art collection. He received an honorary doctorate from the
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...
in 1906 and one from the Polytechnic in 1913.
His grave in the
Johannisfriedhof is decorated with a relief by the sculptor
Robert Diez. The area between the Albertinum and the Art Academy was named the Georg-Treu-Platz in his honor.
Selected writings
* ''Griechische Tongefäße in Statuetten- und Büstenform'' (Greek Pottery in Statue and Bust Form), 1875. Available (print-on-demand) from the
University of Michigan Library
The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the second largest research library by number of volumes in the United Sta ...
.
* ''Hermes mit dem Dionysosknaben'' (Hermes and the Infant Dionysus), 1878
[Zeno: Georg Treu (Excerpt from Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon)](_blank)
/ref>
* ''Die Bildwerke von Olympia in Stein und Ton'' (The Sculptures of Olympia in Stone and Clay), 1894
* ''Max Klinger als Bildhauer'' (Max Klinger as a sculptor). In: ''Pan 5''. Issue 1, 1899/1900, S. 27–35. (Special Edition, Leipzig/Berlin, 1900.) Reissued in book form by the Nabu Press (2013)
* ''Hellenische Stimmungen in der Bildhauerei'' (Hellenic Moods in Sculpture), 1910
References
Further reading
* Erhard Hexelschneider, Alexander Baranov : ''"In Moskau ein kleines Albertinum bauen". Ivan Tsvetayev und Georg Treu im Briefwechsel''. Cologne, Böhlau 2006.
* Dorit Petschel (Ed.): ''Die Professoren der TU Dresden 1828–2003''. Böhlau Verlag, Cologne/ Weimar / Vienna 2003, .
* Heiner Protzmann: ''Salome: Zur Polychromie in der Skulptur: Aus der Korrespondenz Max Klingers mit Georg Treu''. In: ''Jahrbuch der Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dresden'', 14, 1982, S. 61–72.
* Heiner Protzmann: ''Dokumente zur Beziehung Treus zu Klinger''. In: ''Das Albertinum vor 100 Jahren, Die Skulpturensammlung Georg Treus'', Catalog. Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden 1994.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Treu
1843 births
1921 deaths
Burials at Johannisfriedhof, Dresden
German classical scholars
Archaeologists from Dresden
Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Germany
Directors of museums in Germany
Humboldt University of Berlin alumni