BERNHARD HEILIGER* (Stettin 1915 - 1995 Berlin)Lying figure,...

Hammer

€4,000

BERNHARD HEILIGER*
(Stettin 1915 - 1995 Berlin)
Lying figure, 1949
bronze, 25 x 65 x 27 cm
verso signature stamp BH, stamp of the foundry H. NOACK Berlin and the lettering Stiftung
provenance: estate of the artist; Private collection Berlin; Arndt Hamburg Collection; Schweiberer Collection New York; Auction house Neumeister 2008; International private collection

ESTIMATE °€ 4.000 - 6.000
STARTING PRICE °€ 4.000

Heiliger completed an apprenticeship as a stone sculptor from 1930 to 1933. From 1933 to 1936 he received training at the Stettin Werkschule für Gestaltende Arbeiten under the Bauhaus student Kurt Schwerdtfeger. From 1938 to 1941 Heiliger studied at the Staatliche Hochschule für bildende Künste Berlin in the class of Arno Breker. During his studies, Heiliger maintained contacts with Richard Scheibe and Wilhelm Gerstel. He described his impressions gained in Paris in 1939 as formative; he met Aristide Maillol and Charles Despiau and studied works by Auguste Rodin, Constantin Brâncuși, and Hans Arp, among others. After his return, he married the art student Ruth Maria Linde, who shortly thereafter gave birth to daughter Jutta. This was followed in 1941 by son Stefan Heiliger (a furniture designer) and in 1942 by daughter Anita (a social scientist). In 1941 Heiliger was sent to the Eastern Front as a radio operator. Through the intercession of Arno Breker, however, he obtained an indispensable position (so-called UK position) in 1943 and was able to continue his work in Wriezen in Arno Breker's sculpture workshops. As a result of the Volkssturm decree, he was called up again. In 1945 he settled in Berlin as a freelance sculptor. From 1946 he had his first exhibitions in the private home of Karl Buchholz and in the Gerd Rosen Gallery. After a teaching position at the Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst Berlin-Weißensee from 1946 to 1949, he was appointed professor at the Hochschule der Künste by Karl Hofer in 1949 (until 1986). Heiliger received international recognition for his design of the Memorial to the Unknown Political Prisoner (1953), which was awarded the Prize of the German Government and the Recognition Award of the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London. Prominent exhibition participation followed, including documenta I and documenta II in Kassel (1955 and 1959) and the Venice Biennale (1956). Among his commissioned works was the 1957/58 figure tree for the German Pavilion at Expo 58. Heiliger was a member of the board of the Deutscher Künstlerbund from 1951 to 1960. The sculpture "Mother Earth" at Dahlem Cemetery, which serves as a marker for his grave, was created by himself.

PLEASE NOTE:
The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights. In the case of normal taxation (marked °), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax of 13%, for photographys 20%, is added to the sum of the highest bid and the buyer's premium.
The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.