Art & Statues
Ferdinand Preiss: Art Deco Sculptor, The Fire and the Flame
Ferdinand Preiss: Art Deco Sculptor, The Fire and the Flame
Alberto Shayo's biography of Johann Philipp Ferdinand Preiss stands as the only book devoted entirely to the German sculptor widely considered the most accomplished ivory carver of the Art Deco period. Published in 2005 by the Antique Collectors' Club, the 192 page volume combines archival research, family interviews, and an extensive collection of color plates showing Preiss's chryselephantine figures in bronze, ivory, onyx, and marble. It also examines the political conditions in Germany during his career and how they shaped his working life.
Ferdinand Preiss worked in Berlin during the interwar years, producing sculptures that combined cold painted bronze with carved ivory to striking effect. Shayo traces his development within the broader tradition of ivory carving centered in Erbach, Germany, showing how Preiss brought that regional craft to its highest expression during the Art Deco period. The book follows his career from early training through his most celebrated works, situating him alongside contemporaries like Demetre Chiparus, whose Parisian sculptures appear to have directly influenced some of Preiss's own compositions.
Shayo's research draws on previously unexamined sources, including Nazi era archives and interviews with Preiss's surviving family members, to reconstruct both the artist's working life and the difficult political climate he navigated. The book does not shy away from this context, examining how the constraints of the period affected his output and the broader community of German Art Deco sculptors. The extensive color plates throughout, showing figures like Iphigenia and Proserpina in their original bronze, ivory, and marble combinations, represent the most complete visual record of his work published to date.
As the definitive reference on an artist whose work regularly commands strong prices among Art Deco sculpture collectors, this book fills a significant gap in the literature. Shayo's dual focus on artistic achievement and historical context gives readers a fuller understanding of Preiss than a straightforward catalog could provide. For collectors of chryselephantine sculpture, this remains an essential reference alongside similar studies of Chiparus and other figures from the period.
