Franz Gutmann

Franz Gutmann (b. 1928) is a German sculptor. He lives and works at the upper end of the Münstertal in the Black Forest in south of Germany. Franz Gutmann attended the Friedrich-Gymnasium Freiburg and then studied Catholic theology at the University of Freiburg for two semesters in 1950/51, but then began studying at the Freiburg Art Academy with Wilhelm Gerstel after completing his internship with a wood sculptor. After three semesters he moved to the Düsseldorf Art Academy, where he became a master student of Ewald Mataré. Friendships with Joseph Beuys and Erwin Heerich also date from this period. In 1956 a scholarship from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia enabled him to travel through Central Africa for one year. On this trip he also spent five months with Albert Schweitzer in Lambaréné. Gutmann works with various materials (stone, wood, metal). His works range from religious art to large public sculptures and fountains to the design of medals and plaques. His sometimes quite monumental works sometimes have a cheerful character, like the large sculpture made of cast concrete, two giants – swallowers and spitters under the Stadtbahn bridge in the Stühlinger Kirchpark in Freiburg im Breisgau. Some of his religious works are provocative, such as the sculpture of the Crucified Christ in the University Church in Freiburg. He says, “I was born in Münstertal, Black Forest, in 1928. My father showed me how to grind an ax. I haven't learned anything more important since then.”