Kreuzigungsgruppe Westfriedhof Muenchen-2

Thomas Buscher (7 March 1860, Gamburg - 13 May 1937,

Münsing Münsing is a municipality in the district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen in Bavaria in Germany. Located in the Upper Bavarian district of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, it borders Lake Starnberg to its west. Its municipal area extends from the shores ...

) was a German sculptor and

wood carver Wood carving is a form of woodworking by means of a cutting tool (knife) in one hand or a chisel by two hands or with one hand on a chisel and one hand on a mallet, resulting in a wooden figure or figurine, or in the sculptural ornamentation ...

Life and work

He was born to Friedrich Buscher, a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, ...

, and his wife, Dorothea née Häfner. He was only six when his father died, and his eldest brother, Karl (1844–1887) took over the family business. In 1876, his brothers

Clemens Clemens is both a Late Latin masculine given name and a surname meaning "merciful". Notable people with the name include: Surname * Adelaide Clemens (born 1989), Australian actress. * Andrew Clemens (b. 1852 or 1857–1894), American folk artist ...

and left home to study at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

. Later that year, thanks to their efforts, he obtained an apprenticeship with the church Architect, Joseph Elsner. In 1880, he also attended the Academy; studying with the sculptor,

Joseph Knabl Joseph Knabl (17 July 1819 – 3 November 1881) was an Austrian sculptor who specialized in religious statuary. Early years and studies Knabl was born at Fliess, Tyrol, to a peasant family. He tended cattle as a boy, but showed an early aptitu ...

. After completing his studies, in 1884, he went to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, to work as an ornament carver for Sebastian, who had emigrated there in 1879 to take over the workshop belonging to their uncle, , who had died. He returned to Munich in 1886, where he did some work for Elsner, but was mostly a freelancer. Two years later, he started his own woodcarving and finishing business. In 1890, he married Creszentia Maria Mamhofer, the daughter of a wood merchant. From 1891, together with the sculptor, , he operated a studio on the Karlstraße. He also taught at a local crafts school. In 1900, he bought a home on , which also served as a studio for his religious art. He received Bavarian citizenship in 1907 and, in 1913, was named a Royal Bavarian Professor at the Academy, without teaching obligations. He specialized in sculptures for churches, but also accepted commissions for grave monuments and war memorials. His works were mostly in the

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

and Neo-Baroque styles. Despite the high quality of his works, many fell victim to the "purification" movement that followed the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. Some, especially in rural churches, have since been restored. In 2013, the family home in Gamburg was turned into a museum, honoring him and his brother Clemens.

Sources

* Ehrentraut Bohnengel: "Thomas Buschers Werke in Großheubach", In: ''Spessart'', monthly magazine of the Kulturlandschaft Spessart, July 2010 * "Buscher, Thomas", In: Hans Vollmer (Ed.): ''Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts'', Vol.1: A–D. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1953, pg.557 * Charlotte Baumann-Hendriks, Adelheid Waschka: "Thomas Buscher (1860–1937). Bayerischer Realismus zwischen Neogotik & Neobarock", exhibition catalog, Hallstadt 2007
Online
* Heinz Bischof: ''Chronik der Buscher-Brüder. Ein vergessenes deutsches Künstler-Schicksal''. Fränkische Nachrichten, Tauberbischofsheim 1988, * Helmuth Lauf: "Auf den Spuren der Gamburger Bildhauerfamilie Buscher", In: ''Frankenland'', , 33, 1981, pp.169–172 * Martin Seidel: "Buscher, Thomas". In: ''

Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was comple ...

''. Die Bildenden Künstler aller Zeiten und Völker (AKL). Vol.15, Saur, 1996, , pp.314 f.

External links

Works by Buscher
@ Tauberbischofsheim *
The Gamburger Buscher Museum
@ the Gamburg website {{DEFAULTSORT:Buscher, Thomas 1860 births 1937 deaths German sculptors Religious sculptures Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni People from Main-Tauber-Kreis