A Bronze Bust Of A ‘Boy With A Turban’

Born in the southern Austrian city of Klagenfurt, on 24 February 1867, Artur Kaan was a cousin of the painter Julius von Kaan-Albest. He moved to Vienna in 1875 and studied under of the sculptor R. Zafouk from 1882-1886 and later enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts (1886-1890) studying under Carl Kundmann and Edmund Hellmer Hellmer. He subsequently worked as a freelance artist becoming a became a member of the Wiener Künstlerhaus in 1896.

Kaan is best known for his memorial statues for Emperor Franz Joseph, the Mayor of Vienna Porzer, and the composer A.M. Storch. He also created many created many significant architectural and monumental sculptures, including memorials for Richard Flesch (Ober-St.-Veiter Friedhof, 1898), and Thomas Oberwalder (Zentralfriedhof, 1907). The statue of Pericles (1907) for Parliament, the Ferstel bust (1903) for the Technical University (herm figures to the front of the building), the frogs (1902) for the Tilgner fountain and “Daguerre” (1889), for the Ministry of Culture and Education. His specialty however was small scale sculptures and children’s busts often in the baroque style.

At the beginning of the First World War, Kaan was temporarily relieved of his duty to enlist due to work on the Kaiser Franz-Joseph-Stadtmuseum but was subsequently drafted into the 4th Infantry Regiment “Hoch- und Deutschmeister”. He asked to be admitted to the Imperial and Royal War Press Quarters, to which he belonged from July 3, 1917, until it was disbanded on September 15, 1918.

He died during the Second World War on June 9, 1940, after a long illness, in the 18th district of Vienna, at Schumanngasse 16.

Literature
Hülmbauer, Elisabeth (edit.): ‘Kunst des 19. Jahrhunderts. Bestandskatalog der Österreichischen Galerie des 19. Jahrhunderts’, Bd. 2: F–K, hrsg. v. d. Österreichischen Galerie Belvedere, Wien 1993, S. 198.

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