Anton Josef Reiss

Anton Josef Reiss, also Reiß (30 October 1835[1] – 1 February 1900[2]: 42 ) was a German sculptor. Based in Düsseldorf, he focused on sacred art for churches, including a marble Pietà for St. Gereon in Cologne in a style close to the Nazarene movement.

Anton Josef Reiss
Pietà by Reiss in St. Gereon
Born(1835-10-30)30 October 1835
Düsseldorf
Died1 February 1900(1900-02-01) (aged 64)
EducationKunstakademie Düsseldorf
OccupationSculptor
Memorial plaque at St. Mariä Empfängnis in Düsseldorf

Life and career

Born in Düsseldorf, Reiss was the third child of Carl Peter Josef Reiß, who worked then as a coachman, and Sophie Henriette Fink.[3] His sisters were Luise and Christine.[4][5] He received his training as a sculptor from Julius Bayerle (1826–1873),[2]: 22  who later established the first studio for sculpture at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under the direction of Wilhelm von Schadow. Before that, Reiss had attended the elementary class of Joseph Wintergerst at the Kunstakademie in 1851. He also attended Karl Ferdinand Sohn's antiquities class from 1854 to 1855 and received lessons in anatomy and proportions from Heinrich Mücke.[6] Josef Reiss was a member of the Malkasten artists group, and had his studio in the mid-1870s at Klosterstraße 88, where he took in his widowed mother.[7] In the early 1880s, Reiss built a home for himself on the corner plot of Kurfürstenstraße 28 at Klosterstraße 128.[8] The owner of the neighbouring house was, among others, Gustav Rutz's family.[9]

He devoted his work entirely to the church, in a style similar to the Nazarene movement.[10] For his marble Pietà for St. Gereon in Cologne,[2]: 88  he looked at Italian models, including Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome.[11] He created a new Calvary next to Düsseldorf's St. Lambertus, replacing a late-Gothic group sculpture of seven figures which had fallen into disrepair.[2]: 477 

Work
Marble Pietà medallion by Reiss on the Poppelsdorf cemetery in Bonn
New Calvary at St. Lambertus in Düsseldorf

Source:[2]: 55 

  • Andernach
    • Madonna, wood carving, Maria Himmelfahrt.[1]
  • Cologne
  • Düsseldorf
    • Allegorical figures on the facade of the new town hall, Neues Rathaus.
    • Sculptures, the cross above the altar and the Madonna in St. Mariä Empfängnis.
    • Stations of the Cross in St. Mariä Empfängnis, with his student Alexander Iven.
    • Madonna on the Mariensäule on the Maxplatz.
    • New Calvary and figures of saints at the portal of St. Lambertus.
    • Grave site of Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow at the Golzheim Cemetery.
  • Duisburg
    • War memorial for soldiers of the Unification Wars with the seated Duisburgia on the square on Königstraße (unveiled in 1873, not preserved).
    • Monument to Gerardus Mercator on Burgplatz in front of the town hall.[1]
  • Grefrath
    • Altars and figures of saints in St. Stephanus.[1][13]
  • Hüls
    • High altar in St. Cyriakus.[1]
  • Neuss

References
  1. Anton Josef Reiss. In Hans Wolfgang Singer (ed.): Allgemeines Künstler-Lexicon. Leben und Werke der berühmtesten bildenden Künstler. Vorbereitet von Hermann Alexander Müller. 3., umgearbeitete und bis auf die neueste Zeit ergänzte Auflage. Vol. 5: Vialle–Zyrlein. Literarische Anstalt, Rütten & Loening, Frankfurt 1901, p. 239.
  2. Becker, Helga (2017). Anton Josef Reiss (1835–1900): Leben und Werk. Wissenschaftliche Beiträge aus dem Tectum-Verlag (in German). Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag. pp. 21–55. ISBN 978-3-8288-6618-8. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  3. Civilstand, Geburten: 30 October 1835, Anton Joseph, S. of Peter E. Reiß, carter, and Sophie H. Fink, Düsseldorf. In Düsseldorfer Zeitung, appendix to No. 316, 22 November 1835, (uni-duesseldorf.de).
  4. Civilstand, Geburten: 3 October 1825, Luise Gertrud, T. d. Fuhrmanns Carl Peter Josef Reiß und der Anne Jos. Hein. Fink in Düsseldorf. In Düsseldorfer Zeitung. No. 278, 10 October 1825, (uni-duesseldorf.de).
  5. Civilstand, Geburten:July 1833: Christine Pauline, T. des Stadtfuhrmanns Carl Peter Reiß und der Sophie Henriette Fink. In Düsseldorfer Zeitung. No. 166, 13 July 1833, (uni-duesseldorf.de).
  6. Findbuch 212.01.04. List of pupils at the Düsseldorf Academy of Arts from 1830–1895: Reis, Joseph
  7. Klosterstr. 88: Reiß, sculptor; Reiß, Ww. née Fink In Adreßbuch der Oberbürgermeisterei Düsseldorf. 1878, p. 47 (uni-duesseldorf.de).
  8. Klosterstraße 128, belongs to Kurfürstenstraße 28, Reiß, Bildhauer, E. (owner). In Adreßbuch der Oberbürgermeisterei Düsseldorf. 1883, p. 64 (uni-duesseldorf.de).
  9. Klosterstraße 128, Reiß, Jos., Bildhauer, E. In: Adreßbuch der Oberbürgermeisterei Düsseldorf. 1888, p. 124 (uni-duesseldorf.de).
  10. Peter Bloch: Skulpturen des 19. Jahrhunderts im Rheinland. p. 53.
  11. Eduard Trier, Willy Weyres: Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts im Rheinland: Plastik. Schwann, 1980, p. 89.
  12. Becker 2017, p. 37.
  13. Becker, Helga: Altars and Sculptures by Anton Josef Reiß in St. Stephanus in Grefrath near Neuss. (Master's thesis)

Further reading
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Anton Josef Reiss.
  • Schaarschmidt, Friedrich (190). "XV. Kapitel: Die Bildhauerkunst". Zur Geschichte der Düsseldorfer Kunst; insbesondere im XIX. Jahrhunder. Düsseldorf: Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen. pp. 375–384, here p.376.
  • Becker, Helga: Frühwerke des Bildhauers Anton Josef Reiss (1835–1900). In Rheinische Heimatpflege. 49th year, 2012, pp. 257–272.
  • Bloch, Peter: books.google.com Skulpturen des 19. Jahrhunderts im Rheinland. Schwann, Düsseldorf 1975, p. 53 a.o..
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