Sculpture - Marching Lioness , Johannes Darsow (1877-1946) - Bronze

Bronze proof of a walking lioness by Johannes Darsow (1877-1946) .
Bronze with shaded brown patina . 
Signature of the sculptor, "H.DARSOW" , on the naturalistic terrace . 
Founder's mark "GUSS G HEINZE BERLIN" on the back of the terrace .
Antique bronze , XXth century , Art-Déco .
Very good condition and patina . 

Height : 30 cm   Length : 62 cm

Provenance : Former private collection from North Germany .

Johannes Darsow (1877-1946)

Johannes Darsow was a famous German sculptor , born in Berlin in 1877. 

From 1897 to 1905 , Darsow studied at the Dresden School of Arts and Crafts and at the Berlin Academy .
As a Berlin student , he received a scholarship of 1000 marks from the Board of Trustees of the Emil Wentzel Foundation .
The co-scholars were Eberhard Encke and the two painters Eckhard Schuh and Leonhard Schaum .
After completing his studies , J. Darsow travelled to Italy .

From 1906 onwards , he exhibited his work in cities such as Berlin and Munich .
He was represented at the first Great German Art Exhibition in 1937.
For the 1937 International Hunting Exhibition in Berlin , a larger-than-life stag was cast in bronze, based on Darsow's design .
This statue represented the "Raufbold" deer that Hermann Göring had shot in 1936 in the Rominter Heide .
The stag , which was still gilded at the time , can be seen on a colour film shot at the Hunting Exhibition .

Once the exhibition was over, the work of art was installed at the west end of Carinhall's Chestnut Tree Lane , in Deer Square .
Unlike other Carinhall works , the deer survived the end of the Third Reich and the post-war period .
It was then installed in the Berlin-Friedrichsfelde Animal Park , having probably stayed in the park of Sanssouci Castle until 1950 .