Wolf Gerlach:
Sculpture "Mainzelmännchen Berti", bronze version
Wolf Gerlach:
Sculpture "Mainzelmännchen Berti", bronze version

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ars mundi Exclusive Edition | limited, 499 copies | numbered | signed | certificate | bronze | multi-coloured patinated | size approx. 13 x 15 x 11 cm (w/h/d) | weight approx. 2.3 kg

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Sculpture "Mainzelmännchen Berti", bronze version
Wolf Gerlach: Sculpture "Mainzelmännchen Berti", bronze v...

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Sculpture "Mainzelmännchen Berti", bronze version

World premiere: Mainzelmännchen - Exclusive Edition at ars mundi on the occasion of the 50th stage anniversary in 2013

The real TV stars wear neither black ties nor evening dress' - they wear pointed hats. And they look back on a career spanning almost 50 years. Reason enough to erect a small monument to the Mainzelmännchen - in precious bronze and cast stone.

The Mainzelmännchen are German cult figures. They have been part of our everyday lives since 2 April 1963, and many of us have already cherished Anton, Berti, Conni, Det, Edi and Fritzchen as children. After almost 50 years of a television career with over 40,000 short TV clips, three Mainzelmännchen are now available for the first time in bronze and cast stone. They were sculpted by their spiritual father, the graphic artist and stage designer Wolf Gerlach himself and released by him and the public-service television broadcaster ZDF in a strictly limited edition exclusively for ars mundi.
Gerlach elaborately created the little cartoon television stars with pencil drawings, and in the same way, their sculptural realisation was also of the highest level of craftsmanship. The art foundry we chose guarantees the utmost care in casting, finishing, grinding and chasing the raw casting by hand until the patination. The multi-coloured patination, in particular, is a special challenge. Because just as each of the Mainzelmännchen has its own name and character, it can also be recognised by its clothing. For example, to dress Anton in his typical red shirt and blue trousers, an extraordinarily elaborate patination process is necessary. The colours have to be applied in a precisely coordinated sequence and at different temperatures. That requires many years of craftsmanship and intuition on the part of the craftsman.
The results are small works of art, as befits the Mainzelmännchen. And the fact that they are in no way inferior in artistic terms to their famous drawn models is confirmed by Wolf Gerlach's signature - each copy bears his signature.

Mainzelmännchen "Berti", edition in cast bronze:
The limited edition of 499 copies in multi-coloured patinated bronze is cast with great craftsmanship using the traditional Lost-Wax-Process. Each copy is made exclusively for ars mundi, bears Gerlach's signature and is individually numbered. With hand-numbered certificate. Size approx. 13 x 15 x 11 cm (w/h/d). Weight approx. 2.3 kg.

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About Wolf Gerlach

1928-2012 - versatile artist, inventor of the Mainzelmännchen

Born in Pomerania, Germany, in 1928, Wolf Theodor Gerlach spent his youth living on the North Sea island of Langeoog. The technology and equipment of the performing arts seem to have aroused the young man's interest. After an apprenticeship as a film architect, stage and costume designer, he had his first job in Oldenburg, then Braunschweig and Wiesbaden. At the beginning of the 1960s, Gerlach devoted himself to advertising films and in 1963, for the launch of the public-service television broadcaster ZDF, he created the animated station-identity mascots "Mainzelmännchen".

Gerlach, dissatisfied with all the attempts of dedicated dubbing actors to give his characters the right voice, dubbed them himself in the first few years. And just as the distinctive voice and manner of speaking of actor Hans Paetsch heard on fairy tale records enchanted generations of children and their parents from the 1960s onwards, Gerlach spoke his way into the hearts of television viewers with the famous greeting that he invented and crowed: "Gud'n Aaamd" a dialect coloured "Guten Abend" ("good evening"). His mischievous, cheeky and impertinent characters will always be with us.

Wolf Gerlach died in November 2012 at the age of 84.

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