A Foal Looking Back

Renée Sintenis (Glaz/Schlesien 1888 - Berlin 1965)

1951. Bronze, dark patinated. H. 15 cm. Monogrammed RS on the underside; foundry mark H. NOACK BERLIN. Sintenis had a deep affection for horses and was an enthusiastic rider herself. Of the approximately 125 animal bronzes the artist created, nearly half depict horses or foals. In this depiction of a foal looking back, the sculptor revisits a motif from 1919, portraying the young animal with its head turned back, featuring elongated, spindly legs, a flowing mane, and an alert gaze - Literature: Catalogue raisonné Berger/Ladwig 208; Buhlmann 158 - Provenance: Acquired in 1966 from Galerie Commeter in Hamburg; in a private collection in Hamburg ever since - She was one of the best-known and most successful sculptors of the Weimar Republic and also one of the most colorful figures in the Berlin art scene of those years. After training at the School of Arts and Crafts in Berlin, she exhibited for the first time in 1915 at the Berlin Secession. In 1931, she was one of the first women to be appointed to the Prussian Academy of Arts, but was forced to resign by the National Socialists in 1934. After the war, in 1947, she was one of the first female professors to be appointed to the Academy of Arts. Sintenis mainly created small-format animal sculptures, but athletes such as the runner ‘Nurmi’ were also among her favorite subjects Mus.: Neue Nationalgalerie and Georg-Kolbe-Museum Berlin, Kunsthalle Bremen, Kunsthalle Mannheim et al. Lit.: Berger/Ladwig 2013; Buhlmann 1987; Kiel 1956