Viktor Oskar Tilgner

Viktor Tilgner, Lithograph by Adolf Dauthage (1881)
Mozart Monument

Viktor Oskar Tilgner (25 October 1844 in Pressburg – 16 April 1896 in Vienna) was an Austrian sculptor and medailleur.[1]

Life

He was the son of Captain Carl Tilgner. The family moved to Vienna when he was a child. His talent was recognized early by the sculptor Franz Schönthaler [de], who became his first teacher. Then, at the Academy of Fine Arts, he studied under Franz Bauer and Josef Gasser.[1] Later, he was attracted to engraving and worked with the medailleur Joseph Daniel Böhm [de]. One of Tilgner's student's was German sculptor John Walz.[2]

He belonged to the circle of artists around Count Karol Lanckoroński. During the World Exhibition of 1873, he met the French sculptor Gustave Deloye, who strongly influenced his work.[3] The following year, he took a trip to Italy with Hans Makart, whose "realistic academicism" also influenced Tilgner's style. For the last twenty years of his life, he had a large studio in what was originally a greenhouse at the Palais Schwarzenberg[4]

Despite a long-standing heart condition and recurring chest pain, he spent a strenuous day working on his Mozart monument, to get it ready on schedule.[4] He died of a heart attack the next morning. Often considered to be his greatest work, the monument was unveiled a few days after his death. The bulk of his estate was bequeathed to his hometown and is now on display at the Bratislava City Gallery.

Selected major works

References

  1. ^ a b Fritz Pollak. (1908), "Tilgner, Viktor Oskar", Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (in German), vol. 54, Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, pp. 703–705
  2. ^ The Art League Publishing Association (1905). The Artists Year Book. p. 212.
  3. ^ Ludwig Hevesi: Victor Tilgners ausgewählte Werke. Löwy, Vienna, 1897. (11 pages of text and 72 collotypes)
  4. ^ a b † Victor Tilgner (1844–1896). In: Neue Freie Presse, 17 April 1896, p. 05 (Online at ANNO)Template:ANNO/Maintenance/nfp.
  5. ^ Phidias from SIRIS.
  6. ^ Raphael from SIRIS.
  7. ^ Rembrandt from SIRIS.

Further reading

  • Gerhardt Kapner: Ringstraßendenkmäler. In: Renate Wagner-Rieger, Die Wiener Ringstraße. Bild einer Epoche. Die Erweiterung der Inneren Stadt Wien unter Kaiser Franz Joseph. Vol.9,1. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1973,
  • Maria Pötzl-Malikova: Die Plastik der Ringstraße. Künstlerische Entwicklung 1890–1918. In: Renate Wagner-Rieger, Die Wiener Ringstraße. Bild einer Epoche. Die Erweiterung der Inneren Stadt Wien unter Kaiser Franz Joseph. Vol.9,2. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1976, ISBN 3-515-02391-7.
  • Walter Krause: Die Plastik der Ringstraße von der Spätromantik bis zur Wende um 1900. In: Renate Wagner-Rieger: Die Wiener Ringstraße. Bild einer Epoche. Die Erweiterung der Inneren Stadt Wien unter Kaiser Franz Joseph. Vol.9,3. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1980, ISBN 3-515-03288-6.
  • Contribution by Walter Krause in: Jane Turner: The Dictionary of Art. Vol.30: Summonte to Tinne. Grove, New York 1996, ISBN 1-884446-00-0, pgs.888–890.