Richard Wagner's Dog Russ (2004)
by
Ottmar Hörl
Ottmar Hörl (b. 1950) is a German conceptual artist, primarily working in sculpture. His installations, often controversial, typically involve very large numbers of small-ish statues, often in vivid colors, and frequently feature important historical and cultural figures. (Click for his website; you pretty much need to see his work to believe it.)
Hörl was commissioned, for the year 2004, to create an art installation for the Richard Wagner opera festival held every year in the German town of Beyreuth, where in the 1870s the king of Bavaria — a HUGE fan of Wagner's dramatic operas — built an opera house exclusively to showcase Wagner's works. As Hörl explains on this page of his website, he was interested in portraying Wagner as more human, and less of an aloof cultural titan, than has been common in opera literature. To help "humanize" Wagner, part of Hörl's project was the creation of a large number of nearly life-size Newfoundlands (Wagner's favorite breed; he owned two) which were placed next to all of the park benches in Beyreuth. The dog is said to be modeled after Wagner's second Newfoundland, Russmuck, known as "Russ," who is featured prominently in one painting of Wagner.
(I note here that Hörl's website gives 800 as the number of Newfoundland statues created for that project; an opera-related website gives the number as 80, which frankly feels more realistic to me. But heck, even 80 life-size Newf statues would be pretty cool.)
All you Wagner-loving Newfie owners, please note that you can own a copy of the Hörl Newfoundland statue — they're about 31" high, and because they are resin they weigh only about 18 lbs — for only 500€ (about $565 US, not including shipping) for the unsigned version; a hand-signed copy will set you back 900€ (almost $1,020 US, w/o shipping.) Available in black or bronze. Just click on the image below :)
Pretty darn cute, if you ask me.
