Uli Nimptsch was born in Berlin, Germany in 1897, where he studied at the School of Applied Arts (1915–17) and then at the Berlin Art Academy (1919–26). Following the introduction of anti-Semitic legislation, he left Germany in 1937 for the sake of his Jewish wife, Ruth, and settled permanently in England in 1939. He is best known for small-scale high reliefs in bronze or lead, illustrating narratives from the Bible and classical mythology, and was Master of the Royal Academy's Sculpture School from 1966 to 1969.
Sculptor Uli Nimptsch was born Julius Nimptsch in Charlottenberg, Berlin, Germany in 1897. He studied at the School of Applied Art Berlin (1915–17), and then at the Berlin Art Academy (1919–26), and as a young student had his portrait drawn by renowned Jewish expressionist, Ludwig Meidner. In 1924, he received permission from the Academy to travel to Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, and Romania as part of his studies, and in 1928 he was awarded the Prix de Rome. In 1931 he moved to Rome, where he studied at the German Academy at Villa Massimo, visiting Paris and spending time in Switzerland before returning to Germany in 1936. Following Hitler’s accession to Chancellorship and the introduction of anti-Semitic legislation, he left Germany in 1937 for the sake of his Jewish wife, Ruth. His masterpiece prior to migration was Marietta (1936–38), a full-length standing bronze nude with her hands over her head, a cast of which was acquired by Leeds City Art Gallery in 1944.
Nimptsch sojourned in Paris and Rome before immigrating to London in 1939, where he set up his studio at 409 Fulham Road. During the war, he produced small-scale, high reliefs in bronze or lead, illustrating narratives from the Bible and classical mythology, his nude forms notable for their naturalism and neoclassical influences, particularly the work of French sculptor Aristide Maillol (1861–1944). Nimptsch’s sculpture earned him solo exhibitions at the prestigious Redfern Gallery, London (1942) and at Leeds Art Gallery (1944). After becoming a naturalised citizen in 1948 (The London Gazette lists an alternative name as 'Reinhold Julius Samuelsohn'), he joined the Royal Society of British Artists. In 1951 he was one of eight sculptors commissioned by the Arts Council of Great Britain to create a sculpture for the Festival of Britain, Girl Sitting on a Stone Plinth. In 1953 he was invited to teach sculpture at Oskar Kokoschka’s Summer Academy (Sommerakademie für Bildende Kunst), an extension of Kokoschka’s School of Seeing in Salzburg. Nimptsch exhibited his Reclining Figure with the Royal Academy for the first time in 1957 and was elected Associate (ARA) the following year, given the success of his professional reputation in his new homeland. This admission is especially significant, given that there were only some 50 members after the Second World War, of whom less than a fifth were sculptors (let alone émigrés). He became a full Academician (RA) on 21 April 1967, a Senior Academician on 31 December 1972, and was appointed Master of the Royal Academy’s Sculpture School from 1966 to 1969, preceding fellow refugee, Willi Soukop.
Nimptsch took part in local and national initiatives to encourage art appreciation, exhibiting at the London County Council’s triennial open-air sculpture exhibitions held from 1948 to 1966 in Battersea Park or Holland Park, alongside Siegfried Charoux, Georg Ehrlich, Soukop, and other émigré sculptors. Nimptsch was also part of a cohort of émigré sculptors, including Soukop and Peter Peri, commissioned by London County Council as part of its 'Patronage of the Arts Scheme' established in 1956 to create more than 70 large-scale public works for the new modern housing estates, schools, colleges, parks and highways, which were springing up across the city. Nimptsch's two figure Neighbourly Encounter (1961) was installed in 1964 in the Silwood Estate in Rotherhithe, south east London; however, it has been missing for a number of years. In 1973, his work was shown in a retrospective exhibition at the Royal Academy's Diploma Gallery, the first display of its kind to feature a living sculptor Academician. Nimptsch died in his home in Fulham in 1977. He was responsible for the bronze statue of David Lloyd George, now located in the House of Commons, as well as a number of other large-scale bronze sculptures across Britain. His work is represented in numerous UK collections including the Arts Council, British Museum, Henry Moore Institute, Leeds City Art Galleries, Parliamentary Art Collection, Walker, Liverpool, and Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester. A cast of his best-known work, Olympia (1957), is held by the Tate Gallery. His sculpture, Christ Ascendant (1964) is on permanent display in the Parish Church of Saint Wilfrid, Bognor Regis, West Sussex. A pastel portrait of Nimptsch in old age (1976) by his pupil, Haidee Becker, is held in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, London.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Uli Nimptsch]
Publications related to [Uli Nimptsch] in the Ben Uri Library