Draft:Erich Nuechter
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|  |
Erich Nüchter | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 26, 1903 |
| Died | November 24, 1989 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | German |
| Education | Augsburg Art School |
| Known for | Sculpture, metalworking, painting |
| Notable work | Weihnachtskrippe (Christmas Nativity scene), Fuggerzug |
| Movement | Figurative art |
Erich Nüchter (26 June 1903 – 24 November 1989) was a German sculptor, art smith, and painter. He is recognized as one of the few post-war artists who elevated figurative sculpture from hand-forged iron into an independent art form.[1] Contemporary press described him as the "poet with the hard hand" or the "anvil sculptor" due to his ability to impart remarkable lightness and movement to the rigid material of iron.[1][2][3]
Life and career
[edit]Early life and education
[edit]Nüchter was born in Creglingen, Württemberg, the son of a bookbinder. He spent his school years in Ingolstadt, where his father operated a stationery shop.[4] Unlike his siblings, he showed an early interest in art. Nevertheless, after completing school, he began a solid apprenticeship as a locksmith and blacksmith with a firm in Augsburg.[5]
Parallel to his craft training, he enrolled at the Augsburg Art School around 1920,[5] where he studied painting under notable professors such as Gloggner (also referred to as Glocker), Döllgast, Rupflin (also Rupfling), Schneck, and Mair (also Meier).[1][5][6] This dual foundation—mastering a hard craft alongside academic art—profoundly shaped his later style. He also traveled to neighboring countries to study the art of gilding, which later benefited his metalwork.
After an industrial accident, Nüchter transitioned within the Augsburg industrial firms where he worked, first moving to a drawing office and later to the advertising department.[5]
Artistic development and industrial patronage
[edit]Nüchter became a freelance artist only after World War II, following the bombing of Augsburg and his evacuation to Unterschöneberg. There, he assisted a blacksmith and developed the idea of forging figurative representations.[5][7]
A decisive turn in his career came around 1949 when he received a commission from the ironworks Gebrüder Frisch in Kissing (near Augsburg). The company's management recognized his talent and enabled him to set up a small forge in a corner of their workshop hall. This industrial patronage was fundamental, as it provided him with both material and the necessary infrastructure for his technique. Many of his early sculptures were given as gifts from the Frisch company to clients worldwide.[5][1][7]
In 1953, Nüchter joined the Munich Artists' Cooperative, Sculptors Group. He was a constant and successful exhibitor at the spring exhibition in the Haus der Kunst in Munich until approximately 1985.[5][8]
Work
[edit]Nüchter's oeuvre is characterized by its stylistic breadth, ranging from filigree architectural elements like grilles and gates to lifelike, humorous sculptures often based on caricatures. In addition to his internationally renowned work as an art smith, Nüchter also produced an extensive body of work as a painter of watercolors, oil paintings, and graphics.[2][4][7]
Figurative iron sculpture
[edit]Nüchter's particular achievement lay in translating caricature into the three-dimensionality of iron. He created his figures (mostly between 10 and 60 cm high) at the anvil, shaping the material while glowing hot to give it a supple, lively movement—a technique considered a masterful achievement with such a brittle material.[1][4]
Iron caricatures
[edit]Nüchter's love for caricature led him to form typical characters in iron. He always recorded his observations with a thick, blunt pencil on paper before the sketches served as templates next to the forge.[9]
Among his best-known caricature sculptures are figures like Don Quixote, Sir Falstaff (which also appeared as Falstaff Kosake or Ochs von Lerchenau, based on the singer Kurt Böhme), The Arrogant Man, and The Cossack.[8][9]
The creation of The Arrogant Man illustrates Nüchter's humor and creative spirit: after a customer stubbornly refused to loan a well-known artwork for an exhibition, Nüchter forged the miser from memory true to nature as one of his iron figures.[9] Other character types included Death, the typical Upper Bavarian, The Book Lover, as well as figures from operas like Don Pasquale and Burgomaster van Bett.[5]
Hand-forged Christmas Nativity scene
[edit]His technically most complex work is considered to be the complete, hand-forged Christmas Nativity scene, which he created in 1959 as a gift for the commercial manager of the Frisch ironworks.[1][5][10][11]
The nativity scene, which Nüchter produced in approximately 250 working hours over five months, was celebrated in specialist circles as "probably the only hand-forged one in existence."[10][5][1] This assessment was confirmed by a professor from the Munich National Museum.[10]
Executing the nativity scene required the utmost mastery: the figure of Mary had to be annealed over a hundred times. A technical peculiarity was the production of the animals, as the ox, donkey, and the elephant of the Three Wise Men had to be hollow-forged to maintain the dimensions (figures up to 45 cm) without becoming uncontrollable.[10][11]
In terms of content, Nüchter deviated from conventional depictions: Mary was not nursing the child in her lap; Joseph placed a protective hand on her shoulder; and a blind man was being led to the light of the manger by a boy. The bells of the associated candlestick were tuned to the melody of "Silent Night."[10][11]
The Fuggerzug
[edit]Another complex group work is the Fuggerzug, a medieval trade convoy complete with horses and dogs. This work holds particular regional historical significance for Augsburg, as it captures the historical identity of the Fugger city in Nüchter's unique medium. The Augsburg Art Collections recognize the Fuggerzug as a major work and plan to feature it at the center of an exhibition entitled "From Drawing to Forging – Erich Nüchter."[12]
Painting and public art
[edit]Although Nüchter's fame rested primarily on his art smith work, he was also a versatile painter and graphic artist. His work included oil paintings, pencil drawings, red chalk works, graphics, sketches, and stained glass.[4][6]
Paintings
[edit]As a painter, Nüchter focused on landscapes, still lifes, and characteristic portraits. His anecdotal still life Immortal Herrings, painted immediately after the war during the "ration coupon era," became particularly well-known. The herrings had to be returned to their owner after serving as models. This work was interpreted as a mirror of the privations of the post-war period.[4][6]
In his later years, Nüchter increasingly focused on painting, particularly watercolors.[1][3][7] As forging became more difficult for him, he developed his "rolling studio": he would always position his BMW so that he could capture Swabian and Upper Bavarian landscape motifs, primarily in the Aichach/Friedberg area, in watercolors from the passenger seat.[12][7]
Public commissions and sacred art
[edit]Nüchter created numerous architecture-related works such as unique heating covers, garden gates, window grilles, room dividers, and lamps.[8]
An outstanding public work is the War Memorial at the parish church in Törwang on the Samerberg (Upper Bavaria), which he created in 1955.[13][8] The monument, whose composition grew from a preliminary design by the painter Karl Müller-Liedeck, depicts the resurrection of Christ: The Risen Christ stands on Michael's sword, which pierces the dragon, while the frightened guards are symbolized below. The Bavarian State Office for Monument Protection praised the design at the time as an "exemplary model of a good solution."[13]
In Friedberg (Bavaria), Nüchter also designed two fountains: the St. Florian Fountain in the 5th Housing Cooperative and the fountain with Two Birds in the Pius-Häusler Settlement.[4]
Reception and legacy
[edit]Recognition and style
[edit]Nüchter was considered an "all-round artist" to whom "no form of representation was foreign."[2] His caricatures documented not only his humor but also his power of observation.[3] The press emphasized that he combined the "world-contemplative, brooding" nature of the Swabian with a "distinct touch of slyness."[6]
Although his works often sold on the first day at the Munich Haus der Kunst, where he exhibited regularly since 1953, he was considered "relatively unknown" in his hometown of Augsburg in wider circles for a long time.[8][5] This apparent contradiction underscores that his traditional, craft-oriented stylistic direction found recognition more quickly in the conservative Munich art circles he frequented with the artists' cooperative than possibly in the local Augsburg scene.[5][1]
Teacher and preserver of craftsmanship
[edit]A essential part of Nüchter's legacy is his role as a preserver of a dying craft.[10][1] He was deeply convinced that the craft of art smithing, which he believed was lost in its intricacies, could still be of high quality even in the age of welding apparatus if one remained true to the material.[10]
Therefore, he passed on his experience and wit to young people.[6] For many years, he served as an honorary forging instructor in the training forge of the Goetzewerke Friedberg and continued this work into his late 70s and 80s (at least until 1983).[14][6] The Goetzewerke acknowledged this contribution by dedicating a catalog of his sketches to him on his 80th birthday. The collaboration with industry (first Frisch, then Goetze) not only secured his own creative work but also the transmission of craft skills.[14][6]
Later years and death
[edit]Erich Nüchter celebrated his 85th birthday in 1988, which the Augusta-Bank in Augsburg honored with a comprehensive exhibition of his works.[3] In his final years, he devoted himself mainly to watercolor painting.[7]
Erich Nüchter died on November 24, 1989, after a short illness in the Friedberg hospital.[7]
Selected works
[edit]| Type | Title/Motif | Notes/Material |
|---|---|---|
| Figurative Sculpture (Iron) | Sir Falstaff (also Ochs von Lerchenau) | Based on Kurt Böhme, sold immediately in Munich[15] |
| Figurative Sculpture (Iron) | Don Quixote | One of his best-known individual sculptures (10–60 cm height)[15] |
| Figurative Sculpture (Iron) | The Cossack | Created after seeing the Moscow Ballet in Munich[15] |
| Figurative Sculpture (Iron) | The Arrogant Man | Humorous caricature of a stubborn customer, forged from memory |
| Figurative Sculpture (Iron) | Saint Martin | St. Martin sharing his cloak with a beggar |
| Figurative Sculpture (Iron) | Delicate Butterfly | Famous, filigree forged ornament |
| Figurative Sculpture (Iron) | Dragon Slayer (St. George) | Displayed at his exhibition for his 85th birthday |
| Large Group Work | Christmas Nativity Scene | Hand-forged, likely unique globally; hollow-forged animals; Mary nursing child; 250 work hours |
| Large Group Work | Fuggerzug | Medieval trade convoy (wagons, horses, dogs); Major work[15] |
| Public Commission | War Memorial Törwang | Resurrection of Christ; collaboration with K. Müller-Liedeck; praised by monument preservation |
| Public Commission | St. Florian Fountain | In the 5th Housing Cooperative, Friedberg |
| Public Commission | Two Birds Fountain | In the Pius-Häusler Settlement, Friedberg |
| Painting/Graphic | Immortal Herrings | Still life from the post-war "ration coupon era" |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Plastiken aus Eisen geschmiedet". Augsburger Zeitung (AZ). Augsburg. 25 June 1973.
- ^ a b c "In der Vereinsbank". Friedberg. December 1976.
- ^ a b c d "Er gestaltete seine Werke auch in Eisen". Augsburg. June 1988.
- ^ a b c d e f "Geschmiedete Poesie". Friedberg. October 1975.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Plastiken - am Amboß geschaffen". Augsburger Rundschau. Augsburg. 26 June 1963.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Einmalige schöpferische Begabung". Augsburger Zeitung (AZ). Augsburg. 26 June 1983.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Vom Handwerk zur Kunst". Augsburg. 27 November 1989.
- ^ a b c d e "Seine Kunstwerke entstehen am Amboß". Augsburger Rundschau. Augsburg. 26 June 1968.
- ^ a b c "Erich Nüchter: Ein Künstler von Format". Friedberg. October 1975.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Christkindl, aus Eisen gehämmert". Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). Augsburg. 24 December 1959.
- ^ a b c "Das Weihnachtswunder aus Eisen geschmiedet". 1959.
- ^ a b "Malerische Motive der eigenen Umgebung". Friedberg. December 1976.
- ^ a b "Ein Kunstwerk auf dem Samerberg". Friedberger Volksbote. Friedberg. 12 September 1955.
- ^ a b "Erich Nüchter 75". Friedberg. June 1978.
- ^ a b c d "Vom Zeichnen zum Schmieden Erich Nüchter (1903-1989) - Kunstsammlungen & Museen Augsburg". Retrieved 2 September 2025.
External links
[edit]- Erich Nüchter | A Member of Parliament (1983) | MutualArt
- Erich Nüchter | 5 Artworks at Auction | MutualArt
- From drawing to forging | Art collections & museums Augsburg
- Vom Zeichnen zum Schmieden Erich Nüchter (1903-1989) - Kunstsammlungen & Museen Augsburg