The Brothers Josephu

The Brothers Josephu
Young Josef at work...circa 1917

Friday, July 11, 2014

More discoveries!

Once again, thanks to the help of friend Herbert Fischer, we've made another discovery. There was a company that Josef worked with in Vienna called Argentor. They sold goods made of silver, bronze and gold.
 
I had located a copy of their catalog from the 1930's but was having difficulty getting a response from the seller. Herbert purchased it on my behalf and sent me photos of the pages. Among are offered small reproductions of several pieces I own, smaller versions of a few pieces I've known about, and then some pieces I did not know of. It was a wonderful find. For example, here is a cut from the page showing one of two pieces Josef called "The Kiss" (both masters are in my apartment).
 
 
 

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Another discovery

I was contacted a few months ago through this blog by someone in Wisconsin who had two pieces by my grandfather, Josef. He sent me photos. Very exciting! These are pieces I did not know existed - supporting my continuing theory that there are still many more works by Josephu waiting be rediscovered.

To add to my please, these are dated 1946 which means they were created after Josef came to the US, making them even more rare. They are a set of lamps, each different. Standing 20" tall, with a base of 8.5" ... the owner said they were plaster and he had them restored: they are excellent.


I hadn't originally intended on purchasing these, but when my cousin Georg heard of them he suggest let's get them, and reproduce in bronze. So We got them! They look great next to my couch. The next step will be to see how to best travel them to Vienna, both cost-effectively and safely. I plan on visiting this December, so one option might be to somehow pack and bring on the plane.
 

Friday, May 16, 2014

Always something turns up!

I received from very interesting news from my cousin, Georg, in Vienna. Through a chance meeting he came across a couple who restore statues. The man, Rindler, is a sculptor and his wife an artist. Georg told them of the funny story regarding one of my grandfather’s statues, a bust of Guido Holzknecht,  which had been improperly restored crediting the work Josephu Sheu who was not a sculptor. They later discussed Georg’s connection to the Josephu family. It turns out that Rindler has been hired to restore one of my grandfather’s works, a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, and that the statue will be returned to its original location.

Part of my research report on this statue was bout how it was moved and appeared to be lost for many, many years...and my failed effort to locate it during my first visit to Vienna.
 
 
After I connected with Georg he told me he knew the piece – it was in an area he’s been many times. So this chapter of the book will have a second happy ending – not only was the statue found, be restored and returned.