Skip to main content

Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Austrian, 1865-1922

Austrian sculptor Carl Kauba was fascinated by the American West, creating dynamic cast bronze sculptures of cowboys, Native Americans and buffalo. Between 1895 and 1912, his polychrome pieces captured the attention of an American audience, while his domestic statutory work in Austria helped solidify his artistic reputation.

He was born the son of a shoemaker in 1865 in Vienna, Austria. He later studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna before learning from sculptor Karl Waschmann and sculptor and medallist Stefan Schwartz. 

Although some accounts have Kauba traveling to the United States to create models and sketches, scholars have questioned the inaccuracies in his work’s weapon detailing and equestrian costumes. Kauba loved the Western tales of German author Karl May and was known to have a friend in Ohio who mailed him costume material, all of which may have provided his references for art.

Kauba’s bronze work is recognized as exceptional Viennese craftsmanship imbued with artistic intricacies and realism. His sculptures of cavalrymen, cowboys and Indigenous people from the American West put him in the same category as titans of American Western art like Frederic Remington and Charles Marion Russell. 

Original Carl Kauba art experienced a resurgence in popularity during a 1950s advertising campaign for Latendorfer in New York. His works have remained prized by Wild West collectors everywhere. 

Kauba’s art has been exhibited at many American art galleries, including the Thomas Nygard Gallery in Montana and the Ophir Gallery in New Jersey.

On 1stDibs, find a collection of Carl Kauba decorative objects, collectibles and more.

to
2
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
3
3
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
3
3
8
138
111
90
71
3
Artist: Carl Kauba
The Scout
The Scout

The Scout

By Carl Kauba

Located in New York, NY

CARL KAUBA Austrian, (1865-1922) The Scout Patinated bronze; Signed ‘C. Kauba’ 30 1/4 x 13 1/2 inches

Category

Early 20th Century Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Going into Battle
Going into Battle

Going into Battle

By Carl Kauba

Located in Missouri, MO

Carl Kauba "Going into Battle" c. 1920s Bronze with Brown Patina Signed approx 10 x 10 x 4 (including wooden base) This Austrian sculptor was born in Vienna in 1865. His teachers were Karl Waschmann (1848-1905), known for his ivory sculptures and portrait plaquettes of contemporary celebrities, and Stefan Schwartz (1851-1924), who exhibited in Paris, including the Exposition Universelle of 1900 where he won a gold medal. Kauba's intricate bronzes, imported to the United States between 1895 and 1912, were cast at the Roman Bronze Works. Kauba was part of the nineteenth-century tradition of polychrome bronze sculpture. There were several types of patinas on a single statue: he could render the color of buckskin, variously tinted shirts, blankets, feathers, as well as beaded moccasins. Reportedly, Kauba came to America around 1886. Inspired by the Western tales of German author Karl May, he traveled to the West and made sketches and models. Critics, however, pointed out inaccuracies of costume and other details. For instance, the guns that his "mid-nineteenth-century" figures use are models produced after 1898. Apparently he did all of his works back in Vienna. Besides the variety of color, Kauba's bronzes show a great range of textures and his style is highly naturalistic. The sculptor loved ornament, some of which he rendered with coiled wire for reins, rope and feathers in headdresses. He successfully rendered figures in motion and often executed compositions with more than one figure. Berman (1974) illustrates non-Western subjects by Kaula, such as the pendants Where? and There (ca. 1910), a seated Scottish couple, impressive in the expressions and the details on patterned fabrics of both sitters. Another genre piece is Buster Brown...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Native American in Canoe
Native American in Canoe

Native American in Canoe

By Carl Kauba

Located in Missouri, MO

Carl Kauba (1865-1922) "Native American in Canoe" Polychrome Bronze Signed approx 5.5 x 10 x 2.75 inches This Austrian sculptor was born in Vienna in 1865. His teachers were Karl Waschmann (1848-1905), known for his ivory sculptures and portrait plaquettes of contemporary celebrities, and Stefan Schwartz (1851-1924), who exhibited in Paris, including the Exposition Universelle of 1900 where he won a gold medal. Kauba's intricate bronzes, imported to the United States between 1895 and 1912, were cast at the Roman Bronze Works. Kauba was part of the nineteenth-century tradition of polychrome bronze sculpture. There were several types of patinas on a single statue: he could render the color of buckskin, variously tinted shirts, blankets, feathers, as well as beaded moccasins. Reportedly, Kauba came to America around 1886. Inspired by the Western tales of German author Karl May, he traveled to the West and made sketches and models. Critics, however, pointed out inaccuracies of costume and other details. For instance, the guns that his "mid-nineteenth-century" figures use are models produced after 1898. Apparently he did all of his works back in Vienna. Besides the variety of color, Kauba's bronzes show a great range of textures and his style is highly naturalistic. The sculptor loved ornament, some of which he rendered with coiled wire for reins, rope and feathers in headdresses. He successfully rendered figures in motion and often executed compositions with more than one figure. Berman (1974) illustrates non-Western subjects by Kaula, such as the pendants Where? and There (ca. 1910), a seated Scottish couple, impressive in the expressions and the details on patterned fabrics of both sitters. Another genre piece is Buster Brown...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Related Items
Cheval Libre (Free Horse)
Cheval Libre (Free Horse)

Cheval Libre (Free Horse)

By Pierre Jules Mêne

Located in San Francisco, CA

Artist: After Pierre Jules Mene (French, 1810-1879) Title: Cheval Libre (Free Horse) Year: 1868 Medium: Cast bronze sculpture with dark brown patina Edition: Unknown Size: Inclu...

Category

Mid-19th Century Realist Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Die Trinkende Bronze Sculpture, Realist Style, Circa 1900, Unframed
Die Trinkende Bronze Sculpture, Realist Style, Circa 1900, Unframed

Die Trinkende Bronze Sculpture, Realist Style, Circa 1900, Unframed

By Victor Heinrich Seifert

Located in New York, NY

Victor Heinrich Seifert (1870 – 1953) Die Trinkende, c. 1900, cast 1906 H 26.25 in. x W 8 in. x D 11.38 inch Bronze with brown patina Original stone pedestal with 1906 inscribed on ...

Category

Early 1900s Realist Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Gymnast Bust, Platinum Bronze Sculpture, Signed, 2000-2009, 10x6 in
Gymnast Bust, Platinum Bronze Sculpture, Signed, 2000-2009, 10x6 in

Gymnast Bust, Platinum Bronze Sculpture, Signed, 2000-2009, 10x6 in

By Richard MacDonald

Located in Laguna Beach, CA

Created by artist Richard MacDonald for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics, Flair Across America celebrates the triumph of the human spirit and the idealization of the human form. Whil...

Category

Early 2000s Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

The Flutist, Atelier: Contemporary Bronze Sculpture, 21st Century, Unframed
The Flutist, Atelier: Contemporary Bronze Sculpture, 21st Century, Unframed

The Flutist, Atelier: Contemporary Bronze Sculpture, 21st Century, Unframed

By Richard MacDonald

Located in Laguna Beach, CA

The Flutist, Atelier was inspired by Richard MacDonald’s signature Heroic work, Joie de Vivre - the "joy of life." Drawing on his own belief in the irrepressible will of the human s...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Modern Male Torso Sculpture by Zura – Resin or Bronze, 2025
Modern Male Torso Sculpture by Zura – Resin or Bronze, 2025

Modern Male Torso Sculpture by Zura – Resin or Bronze, 2025

By Zura

Located in Brooklyn, NY

A powerful study in form and presence, Zura’s Male Torso distills the human figure to its essential structure. Sculpted with a raw, expressive hand, the work captures both strength a...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Aida
Aida

Gaston LerouxAida, 1890

$9,800

H 23 in W 11 in D 10 in

Aida

By Gaston Leroux

Located in New York, NY

GASTON LEROUX "Aida" Modeled scantily clad in a robe and head garment seated on a sculpted head of an Egyptian Pharoah, with a tambourine in her hand, with a green and brown patina, ...

Category

19th Century Realist Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Midnight Atelier, Bronze Sculpture - Contemporary 21st Century Art
Midnight Atelier, Bronze Sculpture - Contemporary 21st Century Art

Midnight Atelier, Bronze Sculpture - Contemporary 21st Century Art

By Richard MacDonald

Located in Laguna Beach, CA

"Sleep, Marcel, Sleep, Atelier, Blanc Noir" is a tender homage to legendary mime Marcel Marceau. Richard MacDonald captures the performer mid-reverie, delicately balanced atop a ball...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Study for the Head of Piper: Contemporary Signed Bronze Sculpture, 21st Century

Study for the Head of Piper: Contemporary Signed Bronze Sculpture, 21st Century

By Richard MacDonald

Located in Laguna Beach, CA

The Piper represents the very embodiment of joy. With a thousand nuances of form, from the wind in her cheek, to the carefree tilt of her head, she conveys a sense of youth and hope ...

Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Winged Victory
Winged Victory

François SicardWinged Victory, circa 1920

$21,093

H 39.38 in W 20.48 in D 15.36 in

Winged Victory

Located in PARIS, FR

Sculpture in bronze with a nuanced greenish brown patina Signed " F. Sicard " on the base With the foundry stamp " Fumière et Cie Sucrs, Thiébaut Fres, Paris " Stands on its original green marble base With a dedication to the wellknown French chef Edouard Nignon : "A Mr Nignon, ses fournisseurs. En souvenir de son élévation au grade de Chevalier dans la Légion d'Honneur. Paris le 7 mai 1921" France cast around 1920 height 100 cm Biography : François-Léon Sicard (1862-1934), known as François Sicard, was a French sculptor. Originally from Tours, he obtained a municipal grant to study at the Fine arts Schoool in Paris. He learned sculpture there under the direction of Jules Cavelier and Louis-Ernest Barrias and became a laureate of the Prix de Rome in 1891. As a resident of the Villa Medici in Rome from 1892 to 1895, he befriended Adolphe Déchenaud who painted his portrait. His career earned him numerous public and private commissions and Sicard received various awards at fairs and exhibitions, including the medal of honor at the 1900 World's Fair and the medal of honor at the 1905 Salon. Having become a professor at the School of Fine Arts in Paris, François Sicard was elected member of the Institute in 1924 and president of the Fine arts Academy in 1930. He was the appointed sculptor of Georges Clemenceau, of whom he sculpted the bust, the group statue of Sainte-Hermine, and which commanded him the Minerva in blond Egyptian stone...

Category

1910s French School Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Awakening 2/49

Lorri AcottAwakening 2/49, 2025

$3,800

H 18 in W 4 in D 4 in

Awakening 2/49

By Lorri Acott

Located in Napa, CA

Lorri Acott is a critically acclaimed American sculptor whose impressionistic figurative works are held in prominent private and public collections throughout the United States and ...

Category

2010s Contemporary Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

The Victorious David / - The melancholy of the radiant hero -
The Victorious David / - The melancholy of the radiant hero -

The Victorious David / - The melancholy of the radiant hero -

By Henri Honoré Plé

Located in Berlin, DE

Henri Honoré Plé (1853 Paris - 1922 Paris), The Victorious David, around 1890. Red-brown and brown patinated bronze with terrain plinth mounted on a round base. 62 cm (total height) ...

Category

1890s Realist Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Previously Available Items
Carl Kauba "Desperado" Patinated Bronze Sculpture
Carl Kauba "Desperado" Patinated Bronze Sculpture

Carl Kauba "Desperado" Patinated Bronze Sculpture

By Carl Kauba

Located in Astoria, NY

Carl Kauba (Austrian, 1865-1922) "Desperado" Patinated Bronze Sculpture, 20th century, the U.S. Cavalryman and his horse mounted on a rocky outcrop, signed, and stamped "Austria", on...

Category

Early 20th Century Naturalistic Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Carl Kauba Bronze Figure of "Justitia" Seated Woman with Sword
Carl Kauba Bronze Figure of "Justitia" Seated Woman with Sword

Carl Kauba Bronze Figure of "Justitia" Seated Woman with Sword

By Carl Kauba

Located in Dallas, TX

Wonderful and rare original Carl Kauba (1865-1922) gilt bronze of a Lady with sword and law book titled "Justitia" Signed: C Kauba and Geschutzt 4889. Height: 10.7 Inches with mar...

Category

Early 1900s Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Study Aim
Study Aim

Carl KaubaStudy Aim, c. 1920

Sold

H 9.5 in W 10 in D 4 in

Study Aim

By Carl Kauba

Located in Missouri, MO

Carl Kauba "Study Aim" c. 1920 Bronze with Brown Patina Signed approx. 9.5 x 10 x 4 This Austrian sculptor was born in Vienna in 1865. His teachers were Karl Waschmann (1848-1905), known for his ivory sculptures and portrait plaquettes of contemporary celebrities, and Stefan Schwartz (1851-1924), who exhibited in Paris, including the Exposition Universelle of 1900 where he won a gold medal. Kauba's intricate bronzes, imported to the United States between 1895 and 1912, were cast at the Roman Bronze Works. Kauba was part of the nineteenth-century tradition of polychrome bronze sculpture. There were several types of patinas on a single statue: he could render the color of buckskin, variously tinted shirts, blankets, feathers, as well as beaded moccasins. Reportedly, Kauba came to America around 1886. Inspired by the Western tales of German author Karl May, he traveled to the West and made sketches and models. Critics, however, pointed out inaccuracies of costume and other details. For instance, the guns that his "mid-nineteenth-century" figures use are models produced after 1898. Apparently he did all of his works back in Vienna. Besides the variety of color, Kauba's bronzes show a great range of textures and his style is highly naturalistic. The sculptor loved ornament, some of which he rendered with coiled wire for reins, rope and feathers in headdresses. He successfully rendered figures in motion and often executed compositions with more than one figure. Berman (1974) illustrates non-Western subjects by Kaula, such as the pendants Where? and There (ca. 1910), a seated Scottish couple, impressive in the expressions and the details on patterned fabrics of both sitters. Another genre piece is Buster Brown...

Category

Early 20th Century Realist Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

The Treasure Seeker
The Treasure Seeker

Carl KaubaThe Treasure Seeker, C1910

Sold

H 7.5 in W 5.75 in D 2.75 in

The Treasure Seeker

By Carl Kauba

Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire

Carl Kauba Austrian, (1865-1922) The Treasure Seeker Bronze, signed Height: 7½ inches Width: 5¾ inches Depth: 2¾ inches An early 20th cent...

Category

19th Century Carl Kauba Figurative Sculptures

Materials

Bronze

Carl Kauba figurative sculptures for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Carl Kauba figurative sculptures available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Carl Kauba in bronze, metal and more. Not every interior allows for large Carl Kauba figurative sculptures, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Pierre Jules Mêne, Gary Sczerbaniewicz, and Ivan Zanoni. Carl Kauba figurative sculptures prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $26,000 and tops out at $26,000, while the average work can sell for $26,000.