Arthur Lewin-Funcke
Thanks to Kris's trying a different spelling, we now know that "Lewisfuncke" is Arthur Wilhelm Otto Lewin-Funcke (1866-1937). I spent the morning researching this artist. He was a German Jew, which probably explains why his work has been neglected or lost and why most of the surviving photos of his work predate Nazi persecution of the Jews. This photo of his delightful Mother & Child (1906) was faded and badly cropped, so I've enhanced it. His statue of Boys Arguing (below or CLICK) exists as two casts (1904 and 1905), one at Staatsarchiv Nordrhein-Westfalen in Detmold, the other at the Museum Abteiberg (Altenheim Lürrip) in Mönchengladbach. Hey, Jerries, isn't it time the Fatherland recognized a great classical German artist, regardless of his religion?
posted by Unknown @ 14.1.08
2 comments
2 Comments:
You write that my grandfather Arthur Lewin-Funcke was a German Jew. This assumption is understandable - because of the last name Levin - but it is not
correct! Originally the first name of the grandfather of an ancestor in the 17th century was Levin. The grandson has accepted the name Levin as last names because
his real father had left the family. In an official report of 1933 (!) on the descent of Arthur Lewin-Funcke is confirmed, that he is Indo-Germanic ("arisch" was the expression in this terrible time). If you want to know more over the work of the sculptor Arthur Lewin-Funcke, then I recommend you the home page http://www.lewin-funcke.de
Hi, Matthias
Thank you for your interesting correction, and from a (the ?) grandson of Arthur Lewin-Funcke!
I had found the website you gave me. If you mouseover the title of this post, you'll see that it links to that website. (I get bored with writing "Click the title link" on every post, but there is usually a link to my reference.) In fact the photo I enhanced of his beautiful and sensitive Mother And Child was downloaded from that website.
Before you mentioned it, I hadn't associated the name Lewin with Levin (obvious once you see it). The reason I thought your grandfather was Jewish is that I found reference to him in a French book: Autour de l'art juif: encyclopédie des peintres, sculpteurs et photographes. There is an English translation from 2003: Around Jewish Art: A Dictionary of Painters, Sculptors, and Photographers (Hardcover) by Adrian Darmon (Editor) Price: £60.00. Amazon.co.uk has run out of copies, but still has this book listed on its website.
Finding his name listed as a Jew seemed to explain why the art of such a superb German sculptor had disappeared into obscurity.
If you're the grandson seeking "Ruth", I hope you find her. Please let me know if you do. I'm interested in seeing every photo of work by your grandfather.
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