Baron Herbert Ledermann Von Wartberg, Bronze Sculpture Of A Woman, 20th Century

Bronze sculpture on a black marble base representing the torso and legs of a naked woman. It was probably made from a cast, as evidenced by the more modeled appearance of her back, perhaps as part of a study from a live model.

Signature “WARTBERG” at the base of the sculpture.

Baron Herbert Ledermann Von Wartberg (1900-?), was a sculptor from Breslau (now Wroclaw, Poland). Trained at the academy of his hometown and then a member of the Munich and Dresden Academy, he was also a student of Bourdelle in Paris, where he settled in 1924.

He exhibited and fulfilled commissions throughout Europe and the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s. In May 1927, an exhibition of his work was organized at the Mantelet-Colette Weil gallery, located at 71 rue de la Boétie. In Vienna, he executed a bust of Prince Starhemberg, then Minister of the Interior. Particularly active in Italy, he produced, among other things, a bust of Pope Pius XI in 1924, a monument entitled “L'aviatore italiano” as well as a sculpture of the Russian dancer Jia Ruskaja. In 1927, he received first prize for a bust of Beethoven at an international sculpture exhibition in Rome. In the United States, in 1928 he created a commemorative monument to Lindbergh for the city of Washington. In 1931, he was in Geneva as part of the execution of sculptures for the palace of the League of Nations.

In 1943 he was deported to the concentration camp of Mechelen, in Belgium. After leaving during the liberation of the camps, he stayed in Germany, in Lüneburg, before emigrating to Los Angeles in 1950. The following year, he completed a "Declaration of Intention" in order to acquire American citizenship and in which he presented himself as a sculptor in his own right. In a 1952 article describing his marriage to an American widow, we learn that Wartberg was awarded the Medal of St. Gregory for his bust of Pope Pius XI. He was also decorated by the King of Sweden and received a medal in Belgium. He is said to have worked as a liaison officer during World War II before his deportation to Mechelen. However, his date of death is unknown.

There is no monograph on him, and he is mentioned in only one book, an autobiography written after World War II by the artist Irene Awret (1921-2014), who was deported to Mechelen like him, and entitled “They'll Have to Catch Me First: An Artist's Coming of Age in the Third Reich.” It mainly relates daily life in the concentration camp and includes a portrait of Wartberg painted by the author in the camp itself. Most of the information relating to Wartberg's life is reported to us in the artistic and social press, essentially between 1924 and 1931, sources becoming drastically scarce after this year.

Dimensions:
H. with base: 51 cm
H. without base: 42 cm
Base dimensions: H.: 9 cm; W.: 14 cm; D.: 12.5 cm