Anton Hanak

Who was Anton Hanak?

Anton Hanak is among the best known Austrian sculptors of the early 20th century. Hanak was born in 1875 in Brno and studied between 1898 and 1904 at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. From 1907 his studio was at Langenzersdorf near Vienna, today the site of the Hanak Museum. From 1913 until 1932, Hanak was professor of monumental sculpture at the School of Applied Arts in Vienna; between 1932 and 1934 he was a professor at Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts.

From 1923 on Hanak concentrated on representations of Venus whom he wished to honor with a "Temple of Venus" in Vienna - which was, however, never built.