Bear bronze by Franz Barwig, 1920

Franz Barwig (Austrian, 1868-1931)

A beautifully observed and naturalistically modelled bronze of a striding brown bear set on a textured bronze sôcle, signed F BARWIG and mounted on a slender onyx base. Austrian, circa 1920.

Length: 9 inches (23 cm), height: 6 inches (15 cm).

Franz Barwig was one of Austria’s most successful animalier sculptors. Initially using the medium of wood, Barwig studied the animals at the Vienna zoo and as an early member of the Secession movement of 1887 moved into the medium of bronze.

One of the most important Art Nouveau sculptors of the era, in 2014 a retrospective exhibition of Barwig’s work was held at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna.

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