Richard Welford (1836–1919) c.1909
Christian Neuper (1876–1950)
The Literary & Philosophical Society
Christian Neuper was the son of a stonemason, who died when Christian was eight years old. He was born in Weissenstadt and started his apprenticeship at the age of 13 at the Ackermann granite grinding shop there. At 16 he moved near Nuremberg to refine his craft. At the age of 19, he moved to Berlin and probably worked as an artistic and technical assistant. In 1899 Neuper worked in marble processing in Carrara (Italy), supervised by Professor Bigi Fausto. This was followed by studying modelling technology at the Accademia Belle Arti there under Professor Nicoli. Neuper moved to Newcastle in 1899. In addition to organising an exhibition in Newcastle, he carried out the city's commissioned work, and he also carried out contract work for decorating and cladding buildings in the north of England.
In February 1919, Neuper returned to Weissenstadt and by 1920 he was head of a sculpture school in Wunsiedel. It closed during the period of interwar inflation and he had few commissions in the following years.
In 1923, Neuper founded his own granite sculptor's workshop and carried out work on tombs, memorial plaques, portraits and figurative works at schools. He received general recognition as a specialist in artistic processing of hard rock and organised numerous exhibitions, including in Berlin, Munich, Bamberg, Coburg, Hof and Bayreuth.
From Kieran Owens
Text source: Art Detective
