Josef Thorak - Misplaced Pages

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Josef Thorak (b 7 February 1889 at Salzburg, Austria; d 26 February 1952 at Hartmannsberg, Germany) was an Austrian-German sculptor.

In 1922 Thorak's reputation increased when he created Der sterbende Krieger, a statue in memory to the dead of World War I of Stolpmuende.

During the early years of the Turkish Republic starting in 1923 Thorak was invited to design some of the early monuments. For four centuries scultpture did not exist in the land we call Turkey because of Islamist prohibitions. For its evolution and institutionalization starting in 1923 see: Arnold Reisman, - Arts in Turkey: How Ancient Became Contemporary - (Charleston, SC: BookSurge Publishing. 2009)

In 1933 and in following years, Thorak joined Arno Breker as one of the two "official sculptors" of the Third Reich. In his government-issued studio outside Munich, Thorak worked on statues intended to represent the folk-life of Germany under Nazi coordination; these works tended to be heroic in scale, up to 65 feet (20 meters) in height. His official works from this period included a number of sculptures at the Berlin Olympic Stadium of 1936.

Because of his preference for muscular neo-classical nude sculpture, Thorak was known among some as "Professor Thorax". Some expressionist influences can be noticed in his neoclassical style.

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See also