Sculpture "Loreley" (2023), reduction in artificial marble

The story of the Loreley, combing her golden hair and luring ships to their doom, is one of the most well-known German myths. It gained worldwide fame, at the latest in the form of the song by Friedrich Silcher with lyrics by Heinrich Heine ("I don’t know what it could mean..."). However, the story is not a "fairy tale from ancient times", as Heine put it. In its known form, it sprang from the imagination of the Romantic poet Clemens Brentano and has since become deeply ingrained in the cultural memory of the Germans. Loreley has inspired numerous works in literature, music, and visual arts.

For St. Goarshausen, there are good reasons to erect monuments to Loreley: She has made the place world-famous and an attraction. One statue has been in place at the foot of the rock for a long time. Since spring 2023, there is a second one in a much more prominent location, on the Loreley plateau itself. The 2.20-meter-high sculpture is by Berlin sculptor Valerie Otte, whose design won a national competition with subsequent public participation, beating more than 50 other competitors.

Valerie Otte portrays the beautiful Loreley in a classic pose on a rock pedestal and equips her figure with several attributes from the Loreley story. Her flowing hair resembles a river. However, the artist in her version of Loreley emphasises less the terrifying danger she represents to sailors according to the legend. In her own words, she tries to show a "feminine view of Loreley" - as a woman who mourns her lover and is "deeply lost in her thoughts."

Original: 2023, bronze, height 220 cm, Loreley rock plateau on the Middle Rhine, Rhineland-Palatinate.

Sculpture in artificial marble. Moulded from the original and reduced in size (reduction). Signed in the mould. With certificate of authenticity. Size approx. 22.5 x 9 x 8 cm (h/w/d). Weight approx. 0.6 kg. ars mundi Exclusive Edition.

Producer: ars mundi Edition Max Büchner GmbH, Bödekerstraße 13, 30161 Hanover, Germany, [email protected]

The sculptor Valerie Otte is working intently on a clay sculpture with her tools.

About Valerie Otte

Insight into the human soul

Otte's art can be described as a play of the eyes at distance, which is a classical description for figurative sculpture. The rule: Close observation. In her works, the artist translates everything that she saw in the world as a quiet emotion, a small gesture or a moment of truthfulness. The viewer then "reads" these traces cast in bronze and soon no longer sees mere sculptures but personalities. It is a game that educates - not only for art but also for the world.

Valerie Otte (born in 1977) studied sculpture and art history in London and Berlin. She followed up with a diploma in product design in Potsdam – this path describes perfectly the approach and versatility of her work.

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Marble powder is polymer-bonded. Artificial marble is characterised by a fine white surface that appears very similar to natural marble.

A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.

While sculptures made of wood, ivory, or stone are carved directly from the material block, in bronze casting, a working model is prepared at first. Usually, it is made of clay or other easily mouldable materials.

The prime time of sculpture after the Greek and Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Contemporary artists such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz also enriched sculptures with outstanding works.