Wilhelm Loth (1920–1993, Darmstadt), “Kopfstudie in Ton (1/55)”, 1955

Unique piece. Terracotta. Signed on the underside. 

Wilhelm Loth (1920–1993) was a German sculptor and is considered one of the important representatives of New Figuration in German postwar art. Born and deceased in Darmstadt, he was influenced early on by artists such as Wilhelm Lehmbruck and Ernst Barlach. As early as the late 1930s, Käthe Kollwitz encouraged him to devote himself entirely to sculpture. From 1958 to 1986, Loth was Professor of Sculpture at the State Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe. In 1964, he participated in documenta III in Kassel. His awards include the Art Prize of the City of Darmstadt (1955), the Grand Art Prize of the City of Cologne (1965), and the Cross of Merit on Ribbon of the Federal Republic of Germany (1979).

The human figure, particularly the female body, is central to his oeuvre, which Loth increasingly abstracted and combined with geometric forms. He also received important public commissions, including works for the German Embassy in Lisbon (1970), the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg (1972), and the former Diplomatic Academy of the German Federal Foreign Office in Bonn (1973).

Lit.: Stadt Karlsruhe (ed.): Wilhelm Loth – Torso der Frau. Karlsruhe, 2001, p. 148, fig. 124.