Warneke, Heinz (Heinrich), 1895-1983

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Heinz (Heinrich) Warneke, b. 1895; d. 1982, Sculptor of East Haddam, Conn.

From the description of Oral history interview with Heinz Warneke, 1982 Nov. 8. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 646396983

Sculptor (East Haddam, Conn.).

From the description of Heinz Warneke interview, 1982 Nov. 8. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 220181253

Sculptor, animal sculptor, educator; East Haddam, Conn.

Born and trained in Germany. Worked on sculpture projects for WPA. Was the head of the sculpture department at the Corcoran School of Art from the early 1940's to 1970.

From the description of Heinz Warneke papers, 1928-1987. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 122394064

Heinz Warneke was born in Germany in 1895 and studied at the Berlin Kunstgewerbeschule. During World War I, he was a member of the German Monuments Commission before emigrating to New York in 1923. He spent five years (1927-1932) in Paris, creating a sculptural style that combined social realism, art-deco wit and primitivism, and upon his return to the United States undertook a number of commissions for the WPA. He became known for his animal figures, receiving steady commissions on into the 1940s and 1950s including an elephant group for the Philadelphia Zoo and the Nittany Lion (1942) for the campus of Pennsylvania State University. In the 1960s he carved a granite sculpture, Prodigal Son, for the National Cathedral in addition to doing the tympanum (a representation of the Last Supper) and clerestory decoration.

For nearly thirty years, Warneke shared his knowledge and skill with aspiring young sculptors and art students. From 1940 to 1942, he taught sculpture at the Warneke School of Art; and from 1943 to 1968 he was head of the sculpture department at the Corcoran School of Art while also serving as professor of sculpture at George Washington University.

Warneke received a number of awards and recognitions over the course of his career, including the Logan Medal at the Art Institute of Chicago, 1930; Widener Gold Medal, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, 1935; First Prize, St. Louis Artists' Guild, 1925; First Prize and Bronze Medal of the Society of Washington Artists, 1943. His work is in the permanent collections of such institutions as the Art Institute of Chicago, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Department of the Interior, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania State College, Addison Gallery of American Art, the Washington National Cathedral, Washington, DC. He was a member of the National Sculpture Society, the National Academy of Design, and the Salon des Tuileries.

Warneke died in Connecticut in 1983. In 1994 the University of Delaware Press published a biography of Warneke by Mary Mullen Cunningham, entitled Heinz Warneke (189551983): A Sculptor First and Last .

From the guide to the Heinz Warneke Papers, 1950-1963, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
creatorOf Warneke, Heinz (Heinrich), 1895-1983. Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1927-1971, n.d. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Warneke, Heinz (Heinrich), 1895-1983. Heinz Warneke : artist file : study photographs and reproductions of works of art with accompanying documentation 1930?-1990 [graphic] [compiled by staff of The Museum of Modern Art, New York]. Frick Art Reference Library of The Frick Collection
referencedIn Hyslop, Francis E. (Francis Edwin), 1909-1979. Francis E. Hyslop papers, 1926-1980. Pennsylvania State University Libraries
referencedIn Hackett Galleries selected records Archives of American Art
referencedIn Fuller, Mary. Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1972. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Flannagan, Grace Briggs. Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1931-1933, n.d. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf WARNEKE, HEINZ. Artist file : miscellaneous uncataloged material. Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
referencedIn Boyd, E. (Elizabeth), 1903-1974. Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1933-1972, n.d. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
referencedIn Warneke, Heinz, 1895- : [miscellaneous ephemeral material]. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library
creatorOf Warneke, Heinz (Heinrich), 1895-1983. Artist file. Brooklyn Museum Libraries & Archives
referencedIn T'eng, Kuei, 1902-. Correspondence with Carl Zigrosser, 1928-1952, n.d. University of Pennsylvania Libraries, Van Pelt Library
creatorOf Heinz Warneke papers Archives of American Art
referencedIn Milch Gallery records Archives of American Art
creatorOf Heinz Warneke Papers, 1950-1963 Syracuse University. Library. Special Collections Research Center
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Oral history interview with Lilian Swann Saarinen Archives of American Art
creatorOf Oral history interview with Heinz Warneke Archives of American Art
Relation Name
associatedWith American Artists Group. corporateBody
associatedWith Boyd, E. (Elizabeth), 1903-1974. person
associatedWith Brown, Robert F. person
associatedWith Calder, Alexander, 1898-1976. person
associatedWith Dwight, Mabel, 1876-1955. person
associatedWith Flannagan, Grace Briggs. person
associatedWith Flannagan, John Bernard, 1895?-1942. person
associatedWith Friedlander, Leo, 1890-1966. person
associatedWith Fuller, Mary. person
associatedWith Ganso, Emil. person
associatedWith Gottlieb, Harry, 1895-1992. person
associatedWith Gurney, George. person
associatedWith Hackett Galleries (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Hartmann, Sadakichi, 1867-1944. person
associatedWith Hyslop, Francis E. (Francis Edwin), 1909-1979. person
associatedWith Jamieson, Mitchell, 1915-1976. person
associatedWith King, Florence. person
associatedWith Kuniyoshi, Yasuo, 1889-1953. person
associatedWith Maillol, Aristide, 1861-1944. person
associatedWith Milch Gallery. corporateBody
associatedWith Mitchell, Henry. person
associatedWith Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.) corporateBody
associatedWith Nason, Thomas W. person
associatedWith Orage, A. R. (Alfred Richard), 1873-1934. person
associatedWith Ruellan, Andrée, 1905-2006. person
associatedWith Saarinen, Lilian Swann, 1912-1995 person
associatedWith Schubert, Katherine Schmidt, 1898-1978. person
associatedWith Seidenberg, Roderick, 1889-1973. person
associatedWith T'eng, Kuei, 1902- person
associatedWith Warneke, Jessie. person
associatedWith Weyhe, Erhard. person
associatedWith Zigrosser, Carl, 1891- person
Place Name Admin Code Country
Missouri--Saint Louis
Missouri--Saint Louis
Washington (D.C.)
Connecticut--East Haddam
Washington (D.C.)
Subject
Art, American
Art, American
Sculpture, American
Sculpture, American
Animal sculptors
Animal sculptors, United States, 20th century
Animals in art
Art
Art
Art and state
Émigré
German Americans
Sculptors
Sculptors
Sculptors
Sculpture
Occupation
Artists
Sculptors
Activity

Person

Birth 1895-06-30

Death 1983

Americans

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SNAC ID: 15103064