JOSEF LORENZL. BRONZE DANCER 1920S.

Bronze dancer by Josef Lorenzl around 1920. rare, mounted on a signed agate base.

Little is known about Lorenzl's early years.
He began his professional career as a picture founder at the Arsenal in Vienna. He gained notoriety with his chryselephantine sculptures made of bronze and ivory, for which he strongly preferred female forms. His statuettes often show graceful dancers with long legs and closed eyes, whom he signed "Enzl" or "Lor". Occasionally the name "Crejo" appears on his pieces. The painter Crejo was friends with Lorenzl and painted some of his works. Lorenzl also designed ceramics for Friedrich Goldscheider in a studio on his company premises. He also worked for the porcelain manufacturers Hertwig & Co. and Keramos.

Lorenzl's works enjoyed great popularity and were also exported abroad; he was one of the most sought-after artists of Art Deco. One of his best-known works is the 1920s sculpture by the dancer Niddy Impekoven, called Trapped Bird.

After Lorenzl's death, his wife Anna (Njura) Lorenzl destroyed a large number of his figures.

Figure dimensions: approx. 16 cm. Total dimensions: approx. 23.5 cm.