RUDOLF MAISON | ATHLET (ATHLETE)

Born in Regensburg, the self-taught sculptor Rudolf Maison opened his studio in Munich in 1879. Specialising in mythological, biblical and historical subjects, he executed numerous prestigious commissions for buildings and monuments across Germany. In the early 1890s, Maison developed an interest in ethnographic representations, then a rare subject matter among German artists.

His Athlet, which depicts a nude African man about to enter combat, is distinguished by its sensitive and naturalistic rendering of physiognomy and anatomy, with remarkably crisp modelling of the man's musculature and hair. The sculpture is further imbued with an heroic stillness that lends it an air of profound introspection. Further casts of the model are housed in the Nationalgalerie, Berlin and the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum, Munich, while the patinated plaster is in the Museums of the City of Regensburg.

In 1892, the year the Athlet was conceived, Maison became a co-founder of the Munich Secession, having befriended Franz von Stuck two years previously. Both artists went on to receive considerable acclaim and recognition on an international level.

RELATED LITERATURE

K. Geiger and S. Tausch (eds.), Rudolf Maison (1854-1904), Regensburg, 2016, p. 246, no. 57