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Liebieghaus Opens August Gaul Showcase Exploring the Art of Animal Sculpture

Curators place Gaul’s naturalistic animal bronzes beside ancient to Renaissance works to probe human–animal affinities.

Overview

  • Frankfurt’s Liebieghaus exhibition is now open and is scheduled to run through 3 May 2026.
  • Reports differ on scope, with reviews citing 93 works or roughly one hundred pieces, drawn in part from the nearby Stiftung Giersch holdings.
  • Curators Vinzenz Brinkmann and Jakob Salzmann stage pointed juxtapositions, notably Gaul’s orangutan portrait “Jumbo” beside a bust of Marcus Aurelius.
  • Reconstructed and contextualized public commissions include life‑size sheep and a Hermes from Hamburg’s Neue Klöpperhaus, the Wertheim bear fountain, and references to the Begas monument eagle and lions.
  • Reviews emphasize Gaul’s anti‑academic naturalism informed by Darwin‑era thinking, inviting fresh readings of anthropomorphism and contemporary “animal content.”