Otto Lessing (sculptor)
Otto Lessing ( born February 24, 1846 in Dusseldorf, † November 22, 1912 in Berlin) was a sculptor of historicism that characterized the appearance of the new imperial capital in the second half of the 19th century. He was the son of the historical painter Carl Friedrich Lessing and great-grandnephew of poet Gotthold Ephraim Lessing.
Life
Otto Lessing's artistic training began with his father, who taught him painting. The sculpture he learned then 1863-1865 at Carl stone houses at the art school in Karlsruhe and 1865-1868 with Albert Wolff in Berlin. After these years of training, Lessing went back to Karlsruhe, where he worked with stone houses until 1872.
The founding of the German Empire with the choice of Berlin as the capital of the Reich drew Lessing with the hope of a favorable order situation in the autumn of 1872 to Berlin. There, he opened a studio used by several artists in the building waiting Castle Road 14 near the Halle Gate, a studio for decorative architectural sculpture. The then unknown sculptor profited at its launch into independence from the recommendations of his uncle Carl Robert Lessing, principal owner of the Vossische newspaper with good contacts with influential politicians and artists. In 1879 he took Eugen Börmel on as fellow who worked for ten years in Lessing's studio before he started his own business.
1880 moved Lessing father, the landscape painter Hans Fredrik Gude, to Berlin and bought a prestigious residence in the Tiergarten district ( grave 50 road, today Kaiserin-Augusta -Straße). In the garden house, the two artists taught a studio.
Lessing's success and reputation increased late 19th century continuously. In 1890 he was admitted, for example, in the renowned Berlin architect club. For the facades of many representative buildings such as the Reichstag, the Berlin Palace and the Berliner Dom he received commissions for sculptures or reliefs. In addition to the large public contracts designed Lessing also many business houses and villas of the new bourgeoisie bauplastisch from. He also designed the interior of the Hofzugs Kaiser Wilhelm II
A new field of activity Lessing opened up with the monumental sculpture. 1886-1890 he created a monument to his great-great- Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, which was erected at the Lennéstraße in the Tiergarten. During the inauguration of the monument on October 14, 1890 Lessing was awarded the title of professor and a short time later, he took up a teaching position at the educational establishment of the Museum of Decorative Arts Berlin.
1894 Lessing moved into the newly created colony of villas Grunewald ( Wangenheimstrasse 10), where he also built a large studio building. After a brief collaboration with Ludwig Hoffmann Lessing gave to the architectural sculptures and now focused on the monumental art and the decorative arts.
At the height of his career Lessing was appointed Senator of the College of Arts and received the Order Pour le Mérite in 1911 awarded for science and arts. However, in 1910 he had to sell his mansion and moved into an apartment in the Hohenzollern Damm 112 in Schmargendorf. He died there on November 22, 1912 and was buried in the cemetery Grunewald. He created His tomb during his lifetime itself
Work
Painting and sculpture
Writings
- ( as editor ) Bauornamente Berlin. 100 panels. Wasmuth, Berlin around 1890.