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Die Partei, Breker's statue representing the spirit of the Nazi Party

Arno Breker (Elberfeld, now Wuppertal, July 19, 1900 - Düsseldorf, February 13, 1991) was a German sculptor and member of the Nazi Party, best known for being endorsed by the authorities of Nazi Germany.

Breker was born in Elberfeld, in the north of Germany, the son of a stone mason. He began to study architecture, along with stone-carving and anatomy, and at age 20 was accepted to the Düsseldolf Academy of Arts where concentrated on sculpture. He first visited Paris in 1924, shortly before finishing his studies. There he met with Jean Cocteau, Jean Renoir, Pablo Picasso, Daniel-Henry Kahnweiler, and Alfred Flechtheim. In 1927 he moved to Paris, which he thereafter considered to be his home. He was quickly accepted by the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim. He also established close relationships with important figures in the art world, including Charles Despiau, Isamu Noguchi, Maurice de Vlaminck and André Dunoyer de Segonzac, of all of whom he later made portraits. He travelled to North Africa, producing lithographs which he published under the title "Tunisian Journey". He also visited Aristide Maillol, who was later to describe Breker as "Germany's Michelangelo".

In 1932 he was awarded a prize by the Prussian Ministry of Culture, which allowed him to stay in Rome for a year. In 1934 he returned to Germany on the advice of Max Liebermann. At this time Alfred Rosenberg, editor of the Nazi newspaper Völkischer Beobachter, denounced Breker as a degenerate artist. However, Breker was supported by many Nazi leaders, especially Adolf Hitler. He took commissions from the Nazis from 1933 through 1942, for example participating in a show of his work in occupied Paris in 1942, where he met Jean Cocteau, who appreciated his work. He maintained personal relationships with Albert Speer and with Hitler. In 1936 he won the commission for two sculptures representing athletic prowess, intended for the 1936 Olympic games, one represented a Decathlete (“Zehnkämpfer”) and the other The Victor (“Die Siegerin”). In 1937 he married Demetra Messala, a Greek woman, and also joined the Nazi Party to smooth the way for further patronage from Hitler."^[1]

The neoclassical nature of his work, with titles like Comradeship, Torchbearer, and Sacrifice, typified Nazi ideals, and suited the characteristics of Nazi architecture. On closer inspection, though, the proportions of his figures, the highly colouristic treatment of his surfaces (the strong contrasts between dark and light accents), and the melodramatic tension of their musculatures perhaps invites comparison with the Italian Mannerist sculptors of the 16th century. This Mannerist tendency to Breker's neoclassicism may suggest closer affinities to concurrent expressionist tendencies in German Modernism than is acknowledged.

His twin sculptures The Party and The Army held a prominent position at the entrance to the Reich Chancellery.

Breker was a professor of visual arts in Berlin, until the fall of the Third Reich. While nearly all of his sculptures survived WWII, more than 90% of his public work was destroyed by the allies after the war.

Arno Breker's Grave in Düsseldorf

In 1948 Breker was designated as a "fellow traveller" of the Nazis and was fined. At this time he returned to Düsseldorf, which remained his base, with periods of residence in Paris. During this time he worked as an architect. However, he continued to receive commissions for sculptures, producing a number of works in his familiar classical style, working for businesses and individual patrons. He also produced many portrait sculptures. In 1970 he was commissioned by the king of Morocco to produce work for the United Nations Building in Casablanca, but the work was destroyed. Many other portrait works followed, including Anwar Sadat and Konrad Adenauer. Breker's rehabilitation continued, culminating in plans for the creation of a Breker museum, funded by the Bodenstein family, who set aside the castle of Nörvenich, between Aachen and Cologne for the purpose. The Arno Breker Museum was inaugurated in 1985.

Breker's rehabilitation led to backlashes from anti-Nazi activists, including controversy in Paris when some of his works were exhibited at the Pompidou Center in 1981. In the same year anti-Breker demonstrations accompanied an exhibition in Berlin. Breker's admirers insisted that he had never been a supporter of Nazi ideology (despite being a member of the Nazi Party), but had simply accepted their patronage.

Breker's last major work was a monumental sculpture of Alexander the Great intended to be located in Greece.