Carl Max Kruse (14 April 1854, Berlin - 26 October 1942, Berlin) was a German sculptor and member of the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artist ...

. His wife was the doll-maker and designer Käthe Kruse.

Life

From 1874 to 1877, he attended the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart () is a research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with programs in civil, mechanical, ind ...

, majoring in architecture. He also studied art and entered the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

, where his teachers were

Fritz Schaper Fritz (Friedrich) Schaper (31 July 1841, Alsleben – 29 November 1919, Berlin) was a German sculptor. Life He was orphaned at an early age, and was sent to Halle (Saale), Halle to receive instruction at the Francke Foundations. After being ap ...

and Albert Wolff, completing his studies in 1879. His statue ''Siegerbote von Marathon'' (The Messenger from

Marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

) brought him the "Prix-de-Rome" from the

, which included a stipendium that enabled him to make a study trip to Rome from 1881 to 1882. He was also an inventor. His ''Verfahren zur Vervollkommnung von Lithopanien'' (Method for the Perfection of

Lithophane A lithophane is a thin plaque of translucent material, normally porcelain, which has been moulded to varying thickness, such that when lit from behind the different thicknesses show as different shades, forming an image. Only when lit from b ...

s) and a ''Bildhauerkopiergerät'' (Sculpture Copier; apparently some sort of automated

pointing machine A pointing machine is a measuring tool used by stone sculptors and woodcarvers to accurately copy plaster, clay or wax sculpture models into wood or stone. In essence the device is a pointing needle that can be set to any position and the ...

) were patented in 1897. For

Max Reinhardt Max Reinhardt (; born Maximilian Goldmann; 9 September 1873 – 30 October 1943) was an Austrian-born Theatre director, theatre and film director, theater manager, intendant, and theatrical producer. With his radically innovative and avant-gard ...

, he designed one of the first Cycloramas from bits and pieces of plastic. In 1908, he joined the Berlin Secession. The following year, he married his mistress, Katharina (Käthe) Simon, who later became famous as a designer of dolls. They had seven children in addition to the four he had from a previous marriage. In 1913, he became a member of the Prussian Academy. He wrote a short book describing his sculptural techniques and proposing new ones in 1925. Although he made his headquarters in Berlin, he travelled extensively, spending time in the Monastery of

Hiddensee Hiddensee () is a Auto-free zone, car-free island in the Baltic Sea, located west of Germany's largest island, Rügen, on the Germany, German coast. The island has about 1,000 inhabitants. It was a holiday destination for East Germany, East Germ ...

and

Bad Kösen Bad Kösen () is a spa town on the Saale river in the small wine-growing region of Saale-Unstrut, Germany. It is a former municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt. Bad Kösen has a population of around 5,300. Since 1 Januar ...

.Kruse, Max. In:

Hans Vollmer Hans Vollmer (16 November 1878 – 15 February 1969) was a German art historian and encyclopedist. Life His father was the architect (1845-1920), his grandfather the Hamburg marine painter and graphic artist Adolph Friedrich Vollmer (1806–18 ...

: ''Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts''. Vol.3 E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1956, pg.128 His youngest son, also named

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

, is an author of children's books. A daughter from his first marriage, , became a painter.

Best-known works

* The ''Siegesbote von Marathon'', 1881, Original in the

Alte Nationalgalerie The Alte Nationalgalerie ( ''Old National Gallery'') is a listed building on the Museum Island in the historic centre of Berlin, Germany. The gallery was built from 1862 to 1876 by the order of King Frederick William IV of Prussia according to ...

. Copies may be found in the

Theater des Westens The Theater des Westens (Theatre of the West) is one of the most famous theatres for musicals and operettas in Berlin, Germany, located at 10–12 in Charlottenburg. It was founded in 1895 for plays. The present house was opened in 1896 and ded ...

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

and other places. * Bust of

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

and

herma A herma (, plural ), commonly herm in English, is a sculpture with a head and perhaps a torso above a plain, usually squared lower section, on which male genitals may also be carved at the appropriate height. Hermae were so called either becaus ...

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist, literary historian, lawyer and politician. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, b ...

for

Viktoriapark The Viktoriapark () is an urban park in the locality of Kreuzberg in Berlin, Germany. It opened in 1894 and is named after the British princess and later Queen of Prussia Victoria. It is situated on the ''Tempelhofer Berge'' range, forming the ...

, 1900. Today, the original Uhland is in the Leibniz-Oberschule, Berlin. * Several figures on the front gable of the Theater des Westens. * Figure of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

in the Parkfriedhof

Neukölln Neukölln (), officially abbreviated Neuk, is one of the twelve boroughs of Berlin. It is located south-east of Berlin's center and stretches from the inner city southward to the border with Brandenburg, encompassing the eponymous quarter of Neu ...

, 1915 * Figure group ''Junge Liebe'' (Young Love), 1895/97 *

Theodor Fontane Theodor Fontane (; 30 December 1819 – 20 September 1898) was a German novelist and poet, regarded by many as the most important 19th-century German-language Literary realism, realist author. He published the first of his novels, for which he i ...

Monument, 1907,

Neuruppin Neuruppin (, , in contrast to ":de:Alt Ruppin, Old Ruppin"; ; North Brandenburgisch dialect, Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the noveli ...

Writings

* ''Ein Weg zu neuer Form'' (A Way to a New Form), which prefigures some trends in modern sculpture, notably the work of

Henry Moore Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi-abstract art, abstract monumental Bronze sculpture, bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. Moore ...

. Munich, G. W. Dietrich (1925)

References

External links

"Junge Liebe" @ ArtNet
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kruse, Max 1854 births 1942 deaths Sculptors from Berlin Prussian Academy of Arts alumni 20th-century German sculptors 20th-century German male artists 19th-century German sculptors German male sculptors Artists from the Kingdom of Prussia

Life

Best-known works

Writings

References

Further reading

External links