Lot number 3480 - Auction 141
'MENSCHENPAAR / ZWEI MENSCHEN'

JOSEF THORAK 1889 Vienna - 1952 Hartmannsberg Castle, Bad Endorf (Probably) 'MENSCHENPAAR / ZWEI MENSCHEN' Bronze, dark patina. H. 66, w. 26, d. 22 cm, weight approx. 17.26 kg. Unsigned, probably Josef Thorak, after the original in the Pinakothek der Moderne Munich. Josef Thorak was an Austrian-German sculptor who is best known for his monumental sculptures. He studied at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and achieved fame in the 1930s and 1940s alongside Arno Breker as the official sculptor of the Third Reich, creating many propagandistic works for the Nazi regime. After the Second World War, Thorak was denazified by the Allies, continued his artistic activities and died suddenly in 1952. The original marble sculpture was created for the "Great German Art Exhibition 1941". Fully sculpted depiction of a standing pair of lovers in an embracing gesture. Part. Loss of patina, bumped and rubbed. Literature: Cf. Pini: Leibeskult und Liebeskitsch - Erotik im Dritten Reich, Munich, 1992. Provenance: Private collection, North Rhine-Westphalia.