William Wauer

German sculptor William Wauer studied at the Art Academies in Dresden, Halle and Berlin, and for two years in San Francisco and New York. In addition, he studied philosophy and art history in Leipzig. Wauer was an art critic, wrote theater reviews, was a feature editor and published art magazines. In 1912 he became a member of the artist group, which formed around the periodical “Der Sturm” (“The Storm”). He also spent some time as head of the advertising department of Lingner-Werke, where he developed a famous advertising campaign for “Odol” mouthwash.

Beginning in 1913, Wauer made films and owned his own film company since 1916. In 1918 he began exhibiting sculptures and busts and worked as a portraitist. In the 1920s he worked at the Bauhaus in Weimar and became known as a sculptor of Cubism. In 1933 Wauer was considered degenerate by the Nazis and in 1941 was banned from working. After 1945 he again worked as a sculptor and painter in Berlin.

The figure of the Skater was created in 1916 and was produced in a number of 7 or 8 copies. One is exhibited in the Germanisches National Museum Nürnberg. The silver-coated bronze figure is about 26 cm high. From the year 1928 seemingly more copies were produced under the title Figure in Motion. In 1950, an aluminum cast was a contract work for the Gallery of the 20th century based on a plaster model in possession of the artist.