Josef Humplik

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games
SexMale
Full nameJosef•Humplik
Used nameJosef•Humplik
Born17 August 1888 in Wien (Vienna), Wien (AUT)
Died5 April 1958 in Wien (Vienna), Wien (AUT)
NOC Austria

Biography

Austrian Josef Humplik was a painter, sculptor, graphic artist and medalist, who studied in Znojmo (TCH, in German Znaim) at a technical school of the clay industry and then in Wien (Vienna) at the School of Applied Arts and the Academy. During World War I he was wounded in a crash as a pilot and then worked as an official war artist. In 1918 he was given a 30% disability rating due to his wounds. He was first a member of the Hagenbund and later of the Secession. In 1937 Humplik became a professor in Wien. He later specialized in portrait busts and worked for the Vienna Burgtheater and the Augarten Porcelain Manufactory. Particularly famous were his busts of artists and after World War II he created a number of monuments in public places. His statue The Runners was given Honorable Mention at the 1936 Olympic Games. It was already shown several months before the Olympic Games in an exhibition of the Künstlerhaus and again in 1942 at the anniversary exhibition. The bronze “Friendship in contest - Two wrestlers” was set up in the mid-1950s at the former Prater Stadium. In 1951 it was part of an exhibition “Austria: Sculpture from 1900 to 1950” in the Mirabell Gardens in Salzburg. In Austria, Humplik was awarded the National Prize and, after World War II, the Honorary Award of the city of Wien. He was married to the poet and artist Hildegard Jones (1891-1963).

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1936 Summer Olympics Art Competitions AUT Josef Humplik
Sculpturing, Statues, Open (Olympic) HM
Sculpturing, Statues, Open (Olympic) AC