Gustinus Ambrosi, despite his Italian descent, was born in Eisenstadt, Austria, in February 1893. His initial passion for music was unfortunately hindered by a childhood illness that caused him to lose his hearing at the age of seven. Instead, Ambrosi focused his creative and artistic talents on drawing and sculpture. Much of his time was spent crafting hundreds of plaster models, which displayed an unusually mature quality from early on.
“In the sculpture ‘The Eternal Longing’ or ‘Promethidenlos’ both man and woman are forged like rocks, they are crucified to themselves through their passion, which is the great outlet of longing. Both hostile forces want to escape and yet are searching for each other.” – Gustinus Ambrosi
Gustinus Ambrosi, despite his Italian descent, was born in Eisenstadt, Austria, in February 1893. His initial passion for music was unfortunately hindered by a childhood illness that caused him to lose his hearing at the age of seven. Instead, Ambrosi focused his creative and artistic talents on drawing and sculpture. Much of his time was spent crafting hundreds of plaster models, which displayed an unusually mature quality from early on.
In 1909, Ambrosi’s family moved to Graz, where the young prodigy studied under various decorative sculptors. At the age of 16, the young artist was working as an apprentice when he witnessed a workman break his neck after falling from high scaffolding. This incident had a profound effect on Ambrosi and inspired the highly acclaimed work, Man with a Broken Neck. The piece, which was first shown at the Fine Arts Society of Styria shortly after it was produced, represented a major break-through in the artist’s career.
The sculptor enrolled at the Vienna Academy in 1912 and studied under Josef Müllner, a professor of sculpture and member of the Vienna Secession. Ambrosi’s talent earned him the coveted State Prize in 1913, at only twenty years old. This included being awarded an artist’s studio by the Emperor, Franz Joseph II.
Gustinus Ambrosi, Man with a Broken Neck, bronze, 1909, © Belvedere, Vienna.
By 1925, the volume and span of Ambrosi’s work had become truly remarkable, ranging from portraiture to symbolist and figurative work. Certain sculptures, such as Ambrosi’s Cain (1916), were compared to the work of Michelangelo for their emotional charge. The artist’s style was simultaneously likened to that of Rodin, whose figures, like Ambrosi’s, would often emerge from blocks of roughly hewn marble.
Gustinus Ambrosi, Cain, Marble, 1912, © Belvedere, Vienna.
Ambrosi’s impressive portrait oeuvre represents important European intellectuals and artists, such as Constantin Meunier, Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Strauss and Franz Schubert. He was commissioned by the Prince of Lichtenstein, Franz Joseph II, and by the Austrian President, Karl Renner, to sculpt their portraits, as well as by the Vatican to produce busts for Pope Pius XI, Pius XII and Johannes XXIII.
In 1932, Ambrosi became a member of the Vienna Künstlerhaus and was, by 1956, an associate member of the National Sculpture Society in New York. During his career, Ambrosi exhibited throughout Europe and remained active until his death in July 1975. In October 1978, as a tribute to the sculptor and his contributions to the decorative arts, the state opened the Gustinus Ambrosi Museum, which continues to exhibit a permanent collection of his work.
Ambrosi in his studio, 1949.
English 
Chinese