Karl Kuba Western Bronze

Here is a powerful western bronze by renowned artist Carl Kauba.  This sculpture is powerful and action packed – the bucking horse and rider going down a cliff is a chilling sight.  Carl Kauba is an Austrian artist who was well noted and worked in this country for a good period of time.  It is said that Carl Kauba’s western bronzes are the all time best western bronzes – this from an artist who said he never actually saw a cowboy.  I’m including a little bit of history here about Carl Kauba from the book Bronzes of the American West on page 216-221 – Carl Kauba is a unique figure in the history of American Western bronzes, for his works are without question Austrian bronzes.  The polychrome finish, the intricate detail, and the realistic forms make Kauba’s sculptures excellent examples of Viennese bronzes at the turn of the century.  The major difference, though, is that his subjects were the troopers and Indians of the American West.  Many of Kauba’s bronzes were exported to the United States from 1895-1912.  They were widely advertised and sold to the public by Latendorfer in New York during the 1950’s.  There is very little available biographical information on Kauba.  He was born in Austria and studied sculpture in Vienna under Carl Waschmann and Stefen Schwartz.  There is considerable controversy over whether Kauba ever visited the United States.  Several authorities feel that when he was about twenty-one years old, Kauba traveled through the West and returned to Austria with voluminous notes, sketches, and several small models of Western Sculpture.  Other critics feel that certain inaccuracies of costume, weapons, and equestrian gear indicate that Kauba drew much of his source material from illustrations circulated throughout Europe during the late nineteenth century.  For example, several of his cavalrymen carry guns not used until the Cuban Campaign.  It is believed that Kauba corresponded with a man in the United States who sent him Indian costumes and artifacts in order to improve the authenticity of his work.  He also sent photographs of Indians from the files of historical societies, which Kauba used as the basis of several sculptures.  Kauba’s initial fascination with the American West was fired by stories of the German writer, Carl May.  May’s tales of Western adventure were well known throughout Europe.  Kauba had the opportunity to observe American cowboys in the rodeos which visited Vienna, along with the Indians in the circuses which were popular in Austria early in the twentieth century.  It measures 26” at highest x 14 ½” at widest.

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