alojz rigele (8 february 1879 - 14 february 1940) was an austro-hungarian sculptor and painter. he spent most of his life working in today's bratislava where numerous examples of his statues survive to this day. rigele was considered to be among the leading sculptors in slovakia before the world war i. his specialty was sculpture, especially portrait. together with robert kÃ¼hmayer, jozef arpÃ¡d murmann and alojz strÃ³bl, alojz rigele was part of a group of famous artists that influenced the art and architecture of the city of bratislava.http://www.gmb.sk/en/exhibition/detail/zbierka-stareho-umenia this older generation of sculptors born before the 1900s often represented historical and social themes.http://www.slovakia.culturalprofiles.net/?id=-13265 rigele was an active member of the pressburger kunstverein group and the bratislava beautification association. the alchymist from approximately 1920 is considered to be among rigele's finest sculptures. == biography == alojz rigele was born in 1879 in pressburg (today bratislava). his early education was at the modelling studio of the bratislava decorative sculptor adolf messmer. he started exhibiting his works at bratislava exhibistions since 1899. he studied at the academy of fine arts vienna from 1901 to 1908 under professor jan bitterlich and professor edmund von hellmer. as a winner of pÃ©ter pÃ¡zmÃ¡ny's epitaph in 1907, rigele got a 2-year study opportunity at rome where he lived from 1908 - 1910. in 1911, rigele settled in bratislava. he was a prolific author who took a large number of orders of varying scope, which resulted in the varying quality of his output. he created most of his works between 1897 - 1938. he received and declined numerous offers for professorship at universities in prague and budapest. despite the arguable quality of some of his artworks, he never succeeded financially and he was not able to acquire his own professional studio. alojz rigele died in poverty in bratislava in 1940. numerous statues survive in public spaces particularly in bratislava, but also in over 50 villages and towns in slovakia, austria and hungary. many of rigele's statues and paintings are preserved at the bratislava city gallery, slovak national gallery and the bratislava city museum. == rigele's studio == rigele created his works in his rented apartment inside the lanfranconi palace at today's nÃ¡mestie Ä
1879_births 1940_deaths Hungarian_sculptors Hungarians_in_Slovakia People_from_Bratislava