Numismatikforum

"German War Loans"
1917, Cast Iron, 67mm, 45.6g. Ernsting-WVZ 160a, Unique in Iron

This satirical piece displays Gies' contempt with the amount of money Germany was spending for their involvement in WWI. Large bags full of millions in gold Marks dwarf the workers and are hauled, lifted, and weighed via manual labor by the common man. The German eagle sits pervertedly proud atop the scales.

A Wonderful early expressionistic piece.

[ externes Bild ]

Dear Bronzemonger, I like the Gies medals very much, and I enjoy viewing your contributions to our forum. In the modern section of this forum the word "Medaille" is normally used as a word of contempt for something which is not worth collecting. "Das ist keine Münze, das ist eine Medaille!" And in most cases this is correct - most modern productions are aesthetically not satisfactory. But the Gies medals are works of art, and they are extremely interesting. I like the Goetz medals, too, but I think that Gies is even better.

I never heard of Gies before - sorry for my ignorance. But I agree with mumde that Gies shows a better quality than Goetz - from what I have seen.

Just a question - where can I get more information.

Best regards
Zwerg

Hallo Zwerg, der Katalog, den Bronzemonger auch zitiert, ist: Bernd Ernsting, Ludwig Gies, Meister des Kleinreliefs, Letterstiftung Köln 1995.

Danke - man lernt auch außerhalb der Antike!

Grüße
Zwerg

Zwerg hat geschrieben:Danke - man lernt auch außerhalb der Antike!

Grüße
Zwerg

Yes, The ISBN is 3-930633-02-7


Thank you for your kind words. Yes, I agree that Gies' work is far superior to Goetz...Although Goetz has many beautiful art pieces, his main incentive to create was for money (commercial artist) while Gies' incentive was to create art for arts sake...that is why there are so few of each piece.