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Paul DierkesArchaic Head / - Shaped Originality -1952
1952
About the Item
Paul Dierkes (1907 Cloppenburg - 1968 Berlin), Archaic Head. Limestone, 1952. 15 x 9 x 12 cm (without plinth), 19 x 10 x 11 cm (with plinth), monogrammed "PD" on the reverse.
- Shaped Originality -
At first glance, the limestone sculpture is recognizable as a human head, although it does not have a fully formed face. The nose, eyes, and ears are only hinted at, and yet they are so present that we immediately recognize them as features of a head, and we identify the bulge above the nose as the forehead, and the area below as the chin and neck, and we think we see the mouth and eyebrows, although they are not even hinted at.
We are looking at a kind of prototype of the head, although the head itself does not have the shape of a human head as it exists in nature. Nor is it the geometric shape of a circle or an oval, which would have an original and at the same time timeless character. Rather, we see a form shaped by a creator that cannot be resolved geometrically, although - especially when viewed from the side - it has a geometric rigor similar to that of Oskar Schlemmer's heads. Unlike Schlemmer's figures, however, Dierke's work reveals itself as something created: Traces of the shaving iron and the blows of the chisel are visible everywhere. The head is a handcrafted work of art that looks like an archaic artifact. The impression of originality therefore applies to both the representation and the production: the face only indicated goes beyond any concretely formulated physiognomy, so that a "primal individuality" reminiscent of the figures on Easter Island can be seen here, which appears to have been created with primitive tools by an original creative will.
The impression of originality is reinforced by the ancient material of the stone, on which the traces of carving are also perceived as traces of weathering, making the head appear like a mysterious archaeological artifact that reveals ever new aspects depending on how it is turned and how the light falls. The wooden base, which also presents its own material and on which the head rests freely, fits in with this.
About the arist
As the son of a stonemason, Paul Dierkes was familiar with stone from an early age. After an apprenticeship as a stonemason, he decided to explore this material artistically and become a sculptor. He first studied at the Königsberg Art Academy under Stanislaus Cauer. In 1931 he transferred to the Munich Academy and received a scholarship to Rome. He then settled in Berlin. His first solo exhibitions followed, including at the Ferdinand Möller Gallery in Berlin and the Augusteum in Oldenburg. Dierkes undertook study trips to Amsterdam, Prague, and Paris.
To avoid being drafted by the Nazis, he left Berlin and settled in Groß-Glienicke after the war, but moved back to West Berlin after the division of Germany.
In 1947, he was appointed to the Berlin Academy of Fine Arts and became a professor in 1948. For 20 years, until his death, he headed the Department of Stone and Wood. One of his students was Heinz Spilker.
Paul Dierkes is one of the protagonists who established modern sculpture in post-war Germany. He created archaic-looking forms that exude an aura of originality and, with their figurative allusions, also have a high symbolic value. The original effect gives his art a kinship with architecture, which led Dierkes to collaborate with Egon Eiermann, Peter Poelzig, and Sep Ruf. Many of his works characterize public spaces and demonstrate that Dierkes also understands sculpture as a monumental art that auratizes the respective location through a formed originality and thus develops a social relevance.
The aesthetic effect of sculptural originality often goes hand in hand with an emphasis on "being made," which underlines the craft aspect of the act of creation. For this reason, Paul Dierkes was also fond of woodcuts, which are related to the art of carving.
In 1954 Paul Dierkes was awarded the Art Prize of the City of Berlin.
Every idea creates something we suspected but did not know.
Paul Dierkes
The young Paul Dierkes already had the ability after his four-year apprenticeship as a stonemason to fathom the properties of each selected piece of wood and each stone and to figuratively transform individual natural processes of the grown organisms by means of his own working process.
Herbert Wolfgang Keiser
Bibliography
Herbert Wolfgang Keiser: Der Bildhauer Paul Dierkes, München, 1977.
GERMAN VERSION
Paul Dierkes (1907 Cloppenburg - 1968 Berlin), Archaischer Kopf. Kalkstein, 1952. 15 x 9 x 12 cm (ohne Sockel), 19 x 10 x 11 cm (mit Sockel), rückseitig mit „PD“ monogrammiert.
Exposé als PDF
- Geformte Ursprünglichkeit -
Die aus Kalkstein gehauene Skulptur ist auf den ersten Blick als menschlicher Kopf zu erkennen, obwohl er gar kein ausgeformtes Gesicht aufweist. Die Nase, die Augen und die Ohren sind einzig angedeutet und doch derart präsent, dass wir sie sofort als Merkmale eines Kopfes gewahren und die Wölbung über der Nase als Stirn und die Partie unter ihr als Kinn und Hals identifizieren und meinen, den Mund und die Augenbrauen zu sehen, obwohl diese nicht einmal angedeutet sind.
Wir betrachten eine Art Urform des Kopfes, wobei der Kopf selbst gar nicht die Form eines menschlichen Kopfes aufweist, wie er in natura beschaffen ist. Es handelt sich aber auch nicht um die geometrische Form eines Kreises oder Ovals, die einen ursprünglichen und zugleich zeitlosen Charakter aufweisen würde. Vielmehr sehen wir eine von einem Schöpfer geformte Form, die sich geometrisch nicht auflösen lässt, obwohl sie – insbesondere aus der Seitenansicht – eine geometrieähnliche Strenge aufweist, wodurch eine Ähnlichkeit mit den Köpfen Oskar Schlemmers gegeben ist. Im Gegensatz zu den Figuren Schlemmers gibt sich das Werk Dierkes aber als etwas Geschaffenes zu erkennen: Überall sind Spuren des Scharriereisens und Schläge der Meißel sichtbar. Der Kopf ist ein handwerklich gemachtes Kunstwerk, das wie ein archaisches Artefakt erscheint. Die Ursprünglichkeitswirkung betrifft folglich sowohl die Darstellung als auch die Herstellung: Das einzig angedeutete Gesicht reicht hinter jede konkret ausformulierte Physiognomie zurück, so dass hier eine an die Figuren der Osterinsel gemahnende ‚Ur-Individualität‘ vor Augen steht, die anmutet, als ob sie mit primitiven Werkzeugen von einem ursprünglichen Gestaltungswillen geschaffen worden wäre.
Der Eindruck der Ursprünglichkeit wird durch das uralte Material Stein verstärkt, auf dem die Bearbeitungsspuren zugleich als Spuren der Verwitterung wahrgenommen werden, wodurch der Kopf wie ein geheimnisvolles archäologisches Artefakt wirkt, das je nach Drehung und Lichteinfall immer neue Aspekte offenbart. Dazu passt der ebenfalls sein eigenes Material präsentierende Holzsockel, auf dem der Kopf freibeweglich aufliegt.
zum Künstler
Als Sohn eines Steinmetzen war Paul Dierkes von Kindesbeinen an mit dem Werkstoff Stein vertraut. Nach einer Steinmetzlehre entschied er sich, dieses Material auch künstlerisch zu erschließen und Bildhauer zu werden. Zunächst studierte er an der Kunstakademie Königsberg bei Stanislaus Cauer. 1931 wechselte er an die Münchner Akademie und erhielt dort ein Romstipendium. Anschließend fand er in Berlin seinen Lebensmittelpunkt. Erste Einzelausstellungen folgten, unter anderem in der Berliner Galerie Ferdinand Möller und dem Augusteum in Oldenburg. Dierkes unternahm Studienreise nach Amsterdam, Prag und Paris.
Um der Einberufung unter den Nationalsozialisten zu entgehen, verließ er Berlin und wurde nach Kriegsende in Groß-Glienicke sesshaft, zog nach der Teilung Deutschlands jedoch wieder nach West-Berlin.
1947 wurde er an die Berliner Hochschule für Bildende Künste berufen und 1948 zum Professor ernannt. Bis zu seinem Tod leitete er 20 Jahre den Fachbereich für Stein und Holz. Einer seiner Meisterschüler war Heinz Spilker.
Paul Dierkes zählt zu den Protagnisten, die die moderne Skulptur im Nachkriegsdeutschland etabliert haben. Er schuf archaisch wirkende Formen, die eine Aura des Ursprünglichen entfalten und mit ihren figürlichen Allusionen zugleich eine hohe symbolische Valenz aufweisen. Durch die Ursprünglichkeitswirkung ist eine Verwandtschaft seiner Kunst mit der Architektur gegeben, die Dierkes dazu geführt hat, mit Egon Eiermann, Peter Poelzig und Sep Ruf zusammenzuarbeiten. Zahlreiche seiner Werke prägen den öffentlichen Raum und führen vor Augen, dass Dierkes Skulptur auch als monumentale Kunst versteht, die den jeweiligen Ort von einer geformten Ursprünglichkeit her auratisiert und auf diese Weise eine gesellschaftliche Relevanz entfaltet.
Die ästhetische Wirkung plastischer Ursprünglichkeit geht oftmals mit einer Betonung des ‚Gemacht-Sein‘ einher, womit der handwerkliche Aspekt des Schöpfungsaktes herausgestellt wird. Daher war Paul Dierkes auch dem der Schnitzkunst verwandten Holzschnitt zugetan.
1954 wurde Paul Dierkes mit dem Kunstpreis Stadt Berlin geehrt.
Mit jeder Idee wird etwas gestaltet, das wir ahnen, aber nicht wußten.
Paul Dierkes
Eigenschaften von jedem ausgewählten Stück Holz und jedem Stein zu ergründen und einzelnen Naturvorgänge der gewachsenen Organismen im übertragenen Sinne sich mittels eines eigenen Arbeitsprozesses anverwandeln zu können, solche Fähigkeiten sind bereits bei dem jungen Paul Dierkes nach vierjähriger Handwerkslehre als Steinmetz vorhanden gewesen.
Herbert Wolfgang Keiser
Literatur
Herbert Wolfgang Keiser: Der Bildhauer Paul Dierkes, München, 1977.
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