Lot 6328: KUNST IM DRITTEN REICH - Josef Thorak (1889 - 1952) - a marble head of Dr. Fritz Todt

KUNST IM DRITTEN REICH - Josef Thorak (1889 - 1952) - a marble head of Dr. Fritz Todt
Monumental head depicting the Reich Minister for Armaments Dr. Fritz Todt, made from so-called "Untersberg" marble (northern Limestone Alps near Salzburg) with reddish inclusions (so-called "trout marble"), without base, signed on the nape of the neck "THORAK 1942". Damaged at the ears. Total height circa 41 cm. Josef Thorak and Arno Breker were the most important sculptors of the Third Reich. The War had not yet started when Hitler had a huge studio built for Thorak - the largest in Europe - according to plans by Albert Speer in Baldham near Munich. In this studio Thorak was able to create sculptures as high as 17 metres in one piece. In 1944 he was put on the so-called "Gottbegnadetenliste" (tr. "God-gifted list") by Hitler, thus he was excused from military service. Furthermore Hitler put him on his special list of the "twelve irreplaceable visual artists". Dr. Fritz Todt (1891 - 1942), inspector general for German Roadways and constructor of the Reichsautobahn, SA-Obergruppenführer, major general of the Luftwaffe, from 1940 on Reich minister for armament. The militarily organised construction group "Organisation Todt" (Siegfried Line, Atlantic Wall), founded in 1938, was named after hi. In 1937 he was awarded the German National Prize for Art and Science created by Hitler, which included prize money of 100,000 Reichsmark. On 8 February 1942 he died in a plane crash not far from the Führer's headquarters Wolfsschanze near Rastenburg. Earlier he supposedly had had a heated discussion with Hitler as in his opinion the war could not be won any more. Nevertheless Hitler awarded him posthumously the German Order, the highest award of the Third Reich.

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