Franz Metzner
(b Wscherau, nr Pilsen, 18 Nov 1870; d Berlin, 24 March 1919). German sculptor. After starting an apprenticeship in stonemasonry in Pilsen in 1886, he worked as an assistant to various sculptors (1890-94). He worked predominantly in Saxony, spending time in Zwickau and Dresden, where he attended an evening class at the Kunstgewerbeschule, as well as in Altenburg and Leipzig. He continued his training on study trips to Paris and Italy. In 1894 he went to Berlin, where he founded his own studio in 1896. He first worked predominantly for the royal porcelain factory. His designs were soon distinguished by a very personal style, which might be broadly defined as a combination of Symbolism and Jugendstil. At the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1900 Metzner achieved artistic recognition with these works. At the same time his sculptures were arousing the interest of the public and critics. Inspired by the work of Georg Minne, he produced sculptures couched in a peculiar idiom with tectonic and Jugendstil elements (Hecker tomb, V?lkerschlachtdenkmal, Leipzig, 1902).
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