Arno breker sculptures by michelangelo

Arno Breker – Sculpture from birth

Arno Breker was born on 19 July 1900 in Elberfeld, the eldest son of the master stonemason Arnold Breker. His father’s talent was even more pronounced in the son and after attending high school and an apprenticeship in his parent’s business, Arno Breker studied the works of Auguste Rodin and Michelangelo at the Decorative Arts School in Elberfeld.

He was also interested in contemporary artists, although a collaboration with the famous sculptor Adolf von Hildebrand did not materialise due to financial difficulties. From 1920, Breker attended the Düsseldorf Art Academy where he had brief contact with the rebellious artists’ circle ‘Das Junge Rheinland’ (The Young Rhineland), but soon distanced himself from their aspirations to instead emulate his great idol, Rodin.

Breker also studied architecture with Wilhelm Kreis, the director of the Art Academy, who commissioned him to create the monumental figure of the reclining Aurora, which ador