August Gaul: 20 bronzes from the Cassirer Collection

Paul Cassirer was one of the most colourful figures in the art market of his time, and he changed the artistic landscape of Wilhelmine Germany with his expertise, stylistic assurance and avantgarde taste. His salon was legendary, and his gallery’s interior was designed by the young Henry van de Velde – he served the exquisite collections of early 20th-century Berlin as a manager and adviser. Paul Cassirer provided a platform for French as well as German impressionism. He had an exclusive contract with the animal sculptor August Gaul, whose work can be seen in public spaces in Berlin, among other places. Beyond this, a close friendship united art dealer and artist. In the words of Roland Dorn these bonds meant that, within two decades, the circumstances surrounding the work of a whole generation of sculptors were transformed:
”Little Gaul with his cheerful animals, which Little Paul knew how to find a home among his wealthy clients. The emperor’s steely countenance, with its styled beard where every last little hair strives for something higher, was joined by bears and geese as well as penguins and otters who – based solely on their form – are actually only able to play, chatter and drip water. An awareness of the essence of sculptural form was emerging […]” (Roland Dorn, “Paulchen und Gaulchen”. Ponderabilien zu August Gauls Liaison mit dem Kunstsalon Paul Cassirer, in: Ursel Berger (ed.), Der Tierbildhauer August Gaul, Berlin 1999, pp. 74 f.).

The gallerist’s brother Dr Alfred Cassirer was among those whom he provided with numerous animal figures by Gaul. The German art critic Karl Scheffler’s description of Alfred Cassirer’s excellent art collection in the journal “Kunst und Künstler” mentions ten statuettes just by August Gaul: “with the exception of a charming little bronze head of his daughter [the three-year-old Eva] all belong to August Gaul. He is represented by […] a standing lioness, standing bears, an intently listening deer, a group of chickens, a group of penguins, two ducks and the entirety of the so-called ‘Eselei’. […] Gaul also demonstrates himself to be a master here, confirming that among artworks of every kind and quality he ranks as a master […] among masters” (Karl Scheffler, Die Sammlung Alfred Cassirer, in: Kunst und Künstler, Illustrierte Monatsschrift für Bildende Kunst, vol. XXVII, Berlin 1930, p. 460).

Following Alfred Cassirer’s early death in 1932, his collections were managed by the trustees of his estate. His collection of carpets made its way into Berlin’s Museum für Islamische Kunst. During the Nazi period, other artworks – like August Gaul’s works – survived the war and were then given back to his heirs. Gaul’s animal bronzes were among the pieces that found their way into the collection of Alfred’s daughter Eva Cassirer (1920-2009), who had studied philosophy in London and astronomy in the US, completing a doctoral thesis on the “Concept of Time”. Yad Vashem posthumously honoured Eva Cassirer as one of the “Righteous among the Nations” for her active commitment in saving persecuted Jews during the Nazi period. The provenance of the bronzes by August Gaul offered here is this prominent collection: these works are not just a testament to a deep friendship between artist and art dealer, they also convey a sense of the context of upper-class collections.

In 1905 the Prussian “Ministry of Spiritual, Educational and Medical Affairs” commissioned August Gaul to create a fountain featuring a monumental animal sculpture for the city of Kaliningrad (then the German city of Königsberg). It was to depict the motif of two fighting bison, which Gaul had already formulated in a small preliminary design from 1904 (see Gabler 118). Based on this design, the sculptor created an initial, highly expressive model version: this unique work exists only in the form of the bronze cast offered here. In this piece Gaul has intensified his previously quite static treatment of the subject into an extremely dramatic scene: “In contrast to the initial design, the two primal animals directly crash into one another. By distinctly emphasising the animals’ musculature through his modelling, Gaul develops a powerful and dynamic combat scene. The rough handling of the work’s surface points to its character as a model recognisably conceived for a larger format” (Josefine Gabler, in: Werkverzeichnis August Gaul, p. 116).
In 1913, following extended preparatory work, the monumental “Wisent - brunnen” was installed in front of the district and regional courthouse of Kaliningrad (see Gabler 133). However, in contrast to our model, the large-format version has lost a considerable amount of dynamic tension, as the art critic Karl Scheffler already notes in 1920: “But to the extent […] that the group increasingly becomes a unified whole, the original passion of the struggle, the primal violence of aggressive force, disappears.” (cited in: Gabler, op. cit., p. 128).