Franz Xavier Messerschmidt 1736-1783. From clasicism to expressio

Franz Xaver Messerschidt is the first exhibition in the USA devoted to this major late 18th-century Austro-Bavarian sculptor. It will focus on the artist´s so-called "character heads". Working in a neo-classical vein, Messerschmidt made his mark at first in Vienna, where he met success and had several imperial commissions. He presented the individual features of his models in a way "true to nature", in keeping with their age and without idealizing them.
Around 1770, there was a rupture in Messerschmidt´s life. The artist was thought to have psychological problems, lost his position at the university, and returned to Wiesensteig, his native Bavarian town. Messerschmidt devoted himself to the creation of his "character heads", the body of work for which he would become famous. Messerschmidt is known to have produced 49 of these astonishing works before he died in 1783.