Anton Dominik Fernkorn
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Anton Dominick Ritter von Fernkorn (1813-1878) was an Austrian sculptor. He was born in Erfurt, Thuringia and died in Vienna.
[edit] Career
Fernkorn studied sculpture under the sculptor Ludwig Michael Schwanthaler in Munich. In 1840 he moved to Vienna, Austria and was part of the rebellion against the Neo-Classicism of that time and place. He rediscovered Baroque sculpture and used it as the basis for his equestrian statue of Archduke Charles (1859), who had defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Aspern in 1809. In this work Fernkorn skillfully executed the difficult task of creating a monumentally sized equestrian statue with the horse (and rider) successfully balanced on the horse's two rear legs.
His equestrian monument of Prince Eugene of Savoy is less successful and by the time of its unveiling in 1865 Fernkorn's mental illness made it impossible for him to produce any more work.
Fernkorn is well remembered for his portraits, and these include a bust of the Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and the funerary bust of Carl Ludwig Freiherr von Bruck (1862). He was also a noted animalier, producing works such as the Lion of Aspern in Vienna.
His statue of Baron Josip Jelačić has an interesting and involved history. The central square of the city of Zagreb is named after Jelačić. The square features a large equestrian statue of the Baron, created by Fernkorn. The statue was originally installed on 19 October 1866 by the Austrian authorities, despite protest from the Zagreb councilmen. It was oriented towards the north at the time. The statue was removed in 1947, as the new Communist government of Yugoslavia denounced Jelačić as an Austrian collaborator. But, in 1990, the statue was reinstated after Croatia regained independence and Jelačić's historic role was reevaluated. The reinstated statue faces south.
Fernkorn's own cemetery monument, created by sculptor Josef Beyer, is located in the Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) in Vienna. It consists of a relief of the artist, dressed for work and holding the tools of his trade, surrounded by shallow reliefs of some of his better known works, including his equestrian monuments to the Archduke Charles and Prince Eugene and the Lion of Aspern.
[edit] References
- Janson, H.W., 19th-Century Sculpture, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, 1985
- Kitlitschka, Werner,Grabkult & Grabskulptur: In Wien und Niederösterreich, Vom Historismus zur Moderne, Verlag Niederösterreichisches Pressehaus, Wien, 1987
- Mackay, James, The Dictionary of Sculptors in Bronze, Antique Collectors Club, Woodbridge, Suffolk 1977
- Rheims, Maurice, La Sculpture au XiXe Siècle, Arts et Métiers Graphiques, Paris, 1972
