Joseph Boehm

Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, Bart, actually Boehm RA ( born July 6, 1834 in Vienna, † December 12, 1890 in London ) was a medalist and sculptor. Among his most famous works are the face of British Queen Victoria on the coin that was minted for their golden jubilee, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner. He is one of the most important sculptors of the Victorian era.

Life

Boehm's parents were of German descent. His father Joseph Daniel Boehm was Director of the engraving academy in the mint head in Vienna and also a medalist. Even as a boy he traveled with this Italy and received his education in the UK and Italy. He worked a few years in Vienna, especially in medals and coin pocket; In 1853 he was awarded the Kaiser Award for these medals and 1856 for his sculptures. At the third World Exhibition in London in 1862, his sculptures were so successful that his work with medals and coins came into the background. Although his sculptures were often regarded as too picturesque, but were well received at the court of Queen Victoria. His first known works is the colossal marble statue of Queen Victoria, who was executed in 1869 in Windsor Castle, and the monument to the father of the Queen, Edward Augustus, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, in St. George 's Chapel in Windsor.

1862 Boehm moved to London and took British citizenship in 1865. In 1878 he was elected a member of the ARA, the Associated Royal Academicians, the multi-year vesting prior to the election as a full member of the British Royal Academies, where he was eventually appointed in 1882.

He became famous for its portrait busts, which can now be seen partly in the National Portrait Gallery in London. He often received from the royal family and members of the nobility, who could make their sculptures for gardens and parks his orders. Among his most important works of Saint George and to see the dragons, one in front of the State Library of Victoria in Australia and the statue of Sir Francis Drake. Many of his works are also found in Balmoral, the summer residence of the British Royal Family, and in Dalmeny, Scotland. The large equestrian statue was placed there in the 1860s by Mayer de Rothschild for his newly built residence Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire in order.

Boehm's most famous pupil was Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, daughter of Queen Victoria, from whom, among others, the statue of Victoria in Kensington Gardens. Since Louise was also present, as Boehm died in his study in South Kensington, there is still unoccupied rumors that the two had had an affair.

In London still stand today many of his statues in Saint Paul 's Cathedral, the Monument to General Charles George Gordon, more statues can be found in Fleet Street, Temple Bar and in the Embankment Gardens.