2025Fritz Wotruba - Head, 1962-1965 - Set

The Viennese artist Fritz Wotruba played a pivotal role in shaping post-war sculpture. This year marks the 50th anniversary of his death.

Fritz Wotruba (1907–1975) is considered one of Austria’s most internationally renowned sculptors of the 20th century. From 1938 to 1945, he lived and worked in Switzerland. After the war, he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. His artistic estate is owned by the Austrian Gallery Belvedere and is housed and displayed at Belvedere 21. Wotruba primarily created stone and bronze cast sculptures of the human figure, which, especially after 1945, became increasingly abstract and styl- ised using cubic forms. He also produced numerous works for public spaces. One of the most well- known is the church “Zur Heiligen Dreifaltigkeit” (Holy Trinity Church), commonly referred to as the Wotruba Church, completed in Vienna in 1976 based on his designs. He worked on the sculpture Head, carved from Carrara marble, between 1962 and 1965.