German painter and sculptor Fritz Röll was first educated at the arts and crafts school in Nürnberg (Nuremberg) for four years, and then studied at the school of sculpture in Berlin. In 1909 he was awarded the “Grand State Prize” of the Prussian Academy. From 1911-14 he lived in the Villa Massimo in Roma, but then moved to the Berlin suburb of Dahlem. His preferred materials were stone, wood and bronze. In 1934 he was director of the Great Berlin Art Exhibition. In the era of National Socialism, Röll was little known although he adapted to the aesthetics of the Nazis and mainly created portrait busts. In 1943, he fled from Berlin due to the war and settled in his hometown at the Rhön. The sculpture To the start is apparently identical with the Striding female. It dates from 1932, or at least it was presented as a model in this year in Berlin, but only cast as a bronze in 1936. In 1938 and 1941 it was also shown at the Great German Art Exhibition. Since 1962, the life-size statue has been located in a Berlin-Spandau park.
Germany