Leo (Leon)
Smigay

1.508 / 5.000He came to Nuremberg in 1907. In 1914, he volunteered for military service and returned disabled. He apprenticed as a wood sculptor, followed by vocational training in metal and enameling in Konto near Warsaw. Until mid-1920, he worked as a miner in the Ruhr region. From 1919 to 1920, he attended the Académie Julien in Paris. In 1920/21, he attended a private art school in Frankfurt am Main. From 1921 to 1924, he traveled in North Africa, Asia Minor, and southern Russia. From 1928 onward, he worked as a freelance sculptor in Nuremberg, with a workshop at Hans-Sachs-Platz. In 1936, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp. In 1947, he was a founding member of the artists' group "Der Kreis" and a member of the BBK (Professional Association of Visual Artists). From 1952 to 1958, he lived in Nuremberg at Coburger Straße 6. Works: Nuremberg, Gibitzenhofstraße 135: Sculpture "Sigena," shell limestone, 1958. – Zollhauspark, landscaped pond: Sculpture "Pan," iron and sheet steel, 1960. Museums: Nuremberg, MStN: approx. 15 sculptures; vases and jugs. Literature: Vollmer; August Neuhaus, in: Nürnberger Hefte, 5/1949; Lohrey, 1989; Der Kreis, 1997; E. Masa, Freiplastiken, pp. 292, 355. Exhibitions: 1945/1; 1946/1; 1947/1, –/3, –/4; 1948/1, –/2, –/3, –/4, –/5; 1949/1, –/2; 1950/4; 1951/4, –/5; 1952/1, –/7; 1953/2, –/3, –/11, –/12; 1954/7, –/11; 1955/1, –/3, –/9, –/10; 1956/1, –/5, –/6; 1957/4, –/6 –/12; 1957/6; 1958/2, –/6, –/11, –/12, –/16; 1959/14; 1960/2, –/20; 1962/1; 1962/20; 1963/6, –/7, –/21; 1964/12, –/14; 1968/2; 2002/5. (quoted from the Nuremberg Artists' Lexicon, edited by Manfred H. Grieb) Birgit Rauschert: The Thwarted Modernism. Nuremberg Artists of the 'Lost Generation', Dettelbach 2013