Richard Martin Werner

1903 - 1949 German

Richard Martin Werner

Sculpted nudes, portraits, and Olympic art

Richard Martin Werner was a German sculptor and medalist. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1936 Summer Olympics. Werner's last important work was the design of the reverse of the West-German 50 Pfennig coin. He never saw this popular coin in circulation, because of his early death in October 1949, just before this coin was issued for the first time by Bank deutscher Länder. Werner studied in Frankfurt am Main at the Städel School and the Municipal School for Applied Arts under Richard Scheibe, amongst others. Werner produced several standing female nudes as well as portraits in bronze, marble or stone. He produced numerous female nudes in simple large forms as well as portraits. After World War II, he joined the Darmstadt Secession and taught sculpture at a vocational school. His much smaller than life-sized bronze sculpture Läuferin am Start (Female runner starting) received an Honorable Mention at the 1936 Art Competitions in Berlin within the category Sculpturing, Statues. The work came to Frankfurt in 1938 and stood in front of today’s Commerzbank Arena on a granite pedestal since then. Track and field athlete Emmi Haux (1904-?) is said to have been the model for the sculpture. In the 1920s, Haux was multiple German champion in various athletics disciplines and in 1930 participated in the Women’s World Games.

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