Otto Hofner

Austrian sculptor and medalist Otto Hofner was a three-time Olympian 1932-48 in the Art Competitions, and received an Honorable Mention for his work Ringkampf (Wrestling Match) in 1936 at the Berlin Olympic Games. His Boxer of the 1932 Olympic Games is explicitly designated as a “unique copy”. The statue was bought in 1935 for the Municipal Collections of the city of Wien. In 1948 he was entered posthumously, again with a bronze figure titled Boxer. Since there are no images of both, it is unknown whether they are similar or even identical (model / cast).

Hofner started his education as a goldsmith, engraver and chaser, and then studied at the School of Applied Arts in Wien. With a scholarship he was able to travel to many countries in Western Europe. From 1904-15 he worked as a teacher at the gold and silversmith school in Wien (Vienna). Hofner also worked as a self-employed artist and mainly produced grave monuments, busts and portrait reliefs, but also medals, plaques and goldsmith works. He worked in bronze, marble and granite; more rarely he designed sculptures made of pewter, terracotta and stucco, as well as medals, glass objects and porcelain. During the time of the Austrian “Anschluss” to the Third Reich Hofner also created various Hitler busts. Otherwise, his work was influenced by Art Nouveau.