Black-patinated bronze
Germany, 1892
Franz von Stuck (1863-1928) – German artist of the Munich Secession
Signed in the center of the plinth ‘Franz von Stuck’
Foundry mark on the base ‘Guss C. Leyrer München’
Height: 65 cm
Good condition and fine patina
Provenance: German private collection
The Athlete was one of Stuck’s most favored sculptures and rarely appears on the art market; sculptures by Franz von Stuck fetch up to 100,000 euros at international auctions

This beautiful, black-patinated bronze sculpture by Franz von Stuck is the first fully sculptural work of the famous Munich painter, who began making sculptures in the 1890s. This work shows a shot-putter, whose muscles are tensed over his entire body. Especially remarkable at his beautifully proportioned figure are the very fine details such as the structure of the man’s hair, his fingernails but also the artist’s signature which have been worked out and chiseled, during the final process of the creation. This was one of the most favorite works of the artist and one cast of the athlete can be still found today at the Villa Stuck in Munich. The sculpture reflects the classic ideal of beauty in Antiquity and the Italian Renaissance, expressing force and power.



The sculpture is in good condition with light age-related traces of wear in the form of minimal scratch marks here and there. It has an overall height of 65 cm. The base is signed ‘Franz von Stuck’ and measures 28.5 cm in diameter. The sculpture has a very fine patina. The plinth is decorated with a leaf pattern on the edge and shows the foundry mark ‘Guss C. Leyrer München’.



Franz von Stuck (1863-1928)

The painter and sculptor Franz von Stuck was born 1863 in Tettenweis and went to the arts school in Munich before studying at the academy there between 1881 and 1885. Stuck founded the Munich Secession together with the painter Heinrich Wilhelm Trübner in 1892. Three years later Franz von Stuck became a professor at the Munich academy, where Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky were among his most famous students. Besides his many paintings, which were greatly inspired by the Symbolist Arnold Böcklin, Stuck created numerous sculptures especially in his last creative phase starting in the 1890s. These sculptures partly reflect the lightness of the Art Nouveau, whereas others are influenced by the spirit of Antiquity. Next to Franz von Lenbach and Friedrich August von Kaulbach, Franz von Stuck is one of the so-called ‘Münchner Malerfürsten’ (Munich painter-princes). His works, for which he was frequently awarded medals during his lifetime, are exhibited in international museums; the largest part of his work, however, is found in the Villa Stuck in Munich.