Ludwig Kieninger is a sculptor in wood and stone, specializing in woodcarving. [1] He served as an apprentice for 9 years in Germany and earned the title of "Master Sculptor" in 1948. [2]
Over the years, Ludwig Kieninger taught many students the art of wood carving. He has art displayed in the Vatican; various cathedrals in Germany; many churches in South and North America; the Holy Trinity Seminary at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas; the Indian Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma; City Hall in Dallas, Texas; the Grayson County Bank in Sherman, Texas; and all throughout Europe. He has worked on many restoration and repair projects of valuable antiques. In Germany, he was presented the keys to the city of Tiefenbach.
Kieninger's works vary in size, shape, and medium, but his emphasis is in ecclesiastical art and in life size dimension. He has worked with various stone, marble, and metal, but prefers wood. His focus is on capturing the expressions and emotion of the human form. He has also worked with architects and interior designers to beautify homes in the Dallas and surrounding areas.
A noted assembly of work, the Samuels' Hobbit Collection, painstakingly carved by Kieninger over a span of 14 years depicting the characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings novel is currently on display in the main floor lobby of the Gaston T. Gooch Library at Navarro College. [3]
Ludwig Kieninger was born in Passau, Bavaria, on November 19, 1925.
Kieninger emigrated to Santiago, Chile in 1953. He opened up a studio there and remained very active in his art there until 1959. At that time, he emigrated to Muenster, Texas. Due to increased demand of his art and teaching skills, in 1975, he opened up a more centrally located studio in Dallas, Texas, near University Park. As he grew older, he desired a studio more closely located to his home in DeSoto, Texas. So in the late 1980s, he moved his busy shop there.
He continued to teach and work steadily on his art until 2006 when he suffered a severe stroke. Ludwig Kieninger passed away Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014. [4]
Ivan Meštrović was a Croatian sculptor, architect, and writer. He was the most prominent modern Croatian sculptor and a leading artistic personality in contemporary Zagreb. He studied at Pavle Bilinić's Stone Workshop in Split and at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, where he was formed under the influence of the Secession. He traveled throughout Europe and studied the works of ancient and Renaissance masters, especially Michelangelo, and French sculptors Auguste Rodin, Antoine Bourdelle and Aristide Maillol. He was the initiator of the national-romantic group Medulić. During the First World War, he lived in emigration. After the war, he returned to Croatia and began a long and fruitful period of sculpture and pedagogical work. In 1942 he emigrated to Italy, in 1943 to Switzerland and in 1947 to the United States. He was a professor of sculpture at the Syracuse University and from 1955 at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana.
The Lord of the Rings is a series of three epic fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson, based on the novel The Lord of the Rings by British author J. R. R. Tolkien. The films are subtitled The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003). Produced and distributed by New Line Cinema with the co-production of WingNut Films, the films feature an ensemble cast including Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Christopher Lee, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Hugo Weaving, Andy Serkis and Sean Bean.
Frederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in the genre of Western American Art. His works are known for depicting the Western United States in the last quarter of the 19th century and featuring such images as cowboys, American Indians, and the US Cavalry.
Tilman Riemenschneider was a German sculptor and woodcarver active in Würzburg from 1483. He was one of the most prolific and versatile sculptors of the transition period between late Gothic and Renaissance, a master in stone and limewood.
John Gibson was a Welsh Neoclassical sculptor who studied in Rome under Canova. He excelled chiefly in bas-relief, notably the two life-size works The Hours Leading the Horses of the Sun and Phaethon driving the Chariot of the Sun, but was also proficient in monumental and portrait statuary. He is famous for his statues of Sir Robert Peel, William Huskisson and Queen Victoria. Gibson was elected a Royal Academician in 1836, and left the contents of his studio to the Royal Academy, where many of his marbles and casts are currently on display.
Bavaria is the name given to a monumental, bronze sand-cast 19th-century statue in Munich, southern Germany. It is a female personification of the Bavarian homeland, and by extension its strength and glory.
Franzisca Bernadina Wilhelmina Elisabeth Ney was a German-American sculptor who spent the first half of her life and career in Europe, producing portraits of famous leaders such as Otto von Bismarck, Giuseppe Garibaldi and King George V of Hanover. At age 39, she immigrated to Texas with her husband, Edmund Montgomery, and became a pioneer in the development of art there. Among her most famous works during her Texas period were life-size marble figures of Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin, commissions for the Texas State Capitol. A large group of her works are housed in the Elisabet Ney Museum, located in her home and studio in Austin. Other works can be found in the United States Capitol, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and numerous collections in Germany.
Josef Thorak was an Austrian-German sculptor. He became known for oversize monumental sculptures, particularly of male figures, and was one of the most prominent sculptors of the Third Reich.
Pompeo Luigi Coppini was an Italian born sculptor who emigrated to the United States. Although his works can be found in Italy, Mexico and a number of U.S. states, the majority of his work can be found in Texas. He is particularly famous for the Alamo Plaza work, Spirit of Sacrifice, a.k.a. The Alamo Cenotaph, as well as numerous statues honoring Texan figures, such as Lawrence Sullivan Ross, the fourth President of Texas A&M University.
The Bavarian National Museum in Munich is one of the most important museums of decorative arts in Europe and one of the largest art museums in Germany. Since the beginning the collection has been divided into two main groups: the art historical collection and the folklore collection.
The Elisabet Ney Museum is a museum located in Austin, Texas, United States. It is housed in the former studio of sculptor Elisabet Ney and is dedicated to showcasing her life and works. There is a permanent collection of her portrait busts and personal memorabilia on display.
Joseph Knabl was an Austrian sculptor who specialized in religious statuary.
The production of The Lord of the Rings film series under Peter Jackson's direction was an enormous challenge, starting in 1997 and ending in 2004. Many earlier attempts had failed; most that had reached the screen were animations, and many filmmakers and producers had considered how to achieve the task and then set it aside. The film series as realized consists of three epic fantasy adventure films based on J. R. R. Tolkien's eponymous novel. They were produced by New Line Cinema, assisted by WingNut Films; the cinema versions appeared between 2001 and 2003, and the extended edition for home video in 2004. Development began in August 1997. The three films were shot simultaneously, entirely in Jackson's native New Zealand, from October 1999 until December 2000, with pick-up shots from 2001 to 2003.
Robert Temple Summers II is an American artist in Cleburne, Texas. Summers, who works as a painter and sculptor, has created prominent bronze works displayed in places such as the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, the Dallas Pioneer Park the Loews Anatole Hotel, Fair Park, Los Angeles International Airport, and Plano Texas' Baccus Plaza.
Jesús Bautista Moroles was an American sculptor, known for his monumental abstract granite works. He lived and worked in Rockport, Texas, where his studio and workshop were based, and where all of his work was prepared and finished before being shipped out for installation. In 2008, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. Over two thousand works by Moroles are held in public and private collections in the United States, China, Egypt, France, Italy, Japan, and Switzerland.
Hans Van de Bovenkamp is a Dutch-born American sculptor. Van de Bovenkamp was born in Garderen, Holland in 1938 and immigrated to the United States in 1958. He is best known for his large scale abstract work in bronze, stainless steel, painted steel, and aluminum. Van de Bovenkamp's works are often influenced by myth, symbol, and nature. He is a member of the International Sculpture Center, the New York Sculptors Guild, and the Royal Society of British Sculptors.
Lady Macbeth is a statue of the Shakespearean character Lady Macbeth by German American sculptor Elisabet Ney. The sculpture is a life-size full-length female figure rendered in marble. Completed in 1905, Lady Macbeth is one of Ney's last works and was regarded by the artist as her masterpiece. It is housed in Washington, D.C., in the Luce Foundation Center for American Art at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, which acquired the piece in 1998.
Ludwig II is a sculpture of King Ludwig II of Bavaria by sculptor Elisabet Ney. Completed in 1870, the piece is a portrait statue rendered in plaster. The statue was modeled and carved in Germany, but it is now held by the Elisabet Ney Museum in Austin, Texas; a marble version, completed by another sculptor, is installed in the Herrenchiemsee Palace in Bavaria.
Nick Eggenhofer was a German-born American painter, illustrator and sculptor of the American West. He was the author of two books.
The architecture in Middle-earth, J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional world, is as varied as the Hobbit-holes of the Shire, the tree-houses of Lothlórien, the wooden halls of Rohan, and the stone dwellings and fortifications of Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor. Tolkien uses the architecture in each place, including its interior design, to provide clues to each people's character. The Hobbit Bilbo Baggins's cosy home, Bag End, described in his 1937 children's book The Hobbit, establishes the character of Hobbits as averse to travelling outside the Shire. In his fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, Lothlórien demonstrates the close integration of the Elves with their natural environment. The King of Rohan's hall, Meduseld, indicates the Rohirrim's affinity with Anglo-Saxon culture, while Gondor's tall and beautiful stone architecture was described by Tolkien as "Byzantine". In contrast, the Dark Lord Sauron and the fallen Wizard Saruman's realms are damaged lands around tall dark towers.