Standing Figure by Herbert Albrecht

Albrecht's work is focused on the theme of the figure and its transformation through various viewpoints. The primary influences are the experience of cubism, but also those of classical and pre-classical sculpture, as is obvious in some individual pieces. Although Albrecht started from block and cube, he has since distanced himself from this position. The elementary bodies have become corporal landscapes with differentiated forms that sometimes take on a vegetative character and are subject to a complicated direction of light. Albrecht is like a dancer who has rendered weight to the realm of the forgotten. 
 
Herbert Albrecht, 1927, Bregenzerwald, Austria

Albrecht attended the School of Commercial Arts in Innsbruck from 1941-1946, where Hans Pontiller was his first instructor. Afterwards, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna under Fritz Wotruba and Herbert Boeckl. He became acquainted with sculptor colleagues Joannis Avramidis, Wander Bertoni, Otto Eder, Josef Pillhofer and Andreas Urteil. In 1955 he graduated from the academy and opened his first studio in Vorarlberg, where he constructed a monumental portal design for the Cistercian Abbey in Mehrerau-Bregenz between 1960 and 1962 and was awarded the Theodor Körner Prize. In 1964 he displayed his work in a rich array of galleries and museums in Europe and New York. He received the International Art Award of the State of Vorarlberg in 1987. From 1993 to 1997, Albrecht was a visiting professor at the Technical University in Graz. A large retrospective exhibition of his work was held at Vienna's Künstlerhaus in 1998. He was awarded the First Class Cross of Honour of the Republic of Austria for Science and Art in 2002. He lives and works in Wolfurt near Bregenz.