FRANKFURT.- The Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung is dedicating a major exhibition to the sculptor August Gaul (1869–1921), showcasing the artist in all his diversity as one of Germany’s first modern sculptors. Under the title Animals Are Only Humans Too. Sculptures by August Gaul (13 November 2025 – 3 May 2026), the museum is showing around one hundred of Gaul’s animal sculptures in dialogue with sculptures from three millennia. The topics range from animal worship in ancient Egypt and the hybrid creatures of Greek mythology to domestic animals in ancient Rome and animals in Christian iconography.

August Gaul is considered to be one of the pioneers of modern sculpture in Germany. Through his depictions of animals, he liberated the motif from centuries-old symbolism, developing a new sculptural language that would continue to influence artists well into the twentieth century. The exhibition invites visitors to discover Gaul’s modernity through some one hundred works in bronze, ceramics and marble. Alongside his impressive, life-size sculptures of lions and apes, Gaul also turned his attention to animals that had previously been overlooked in art, including donkeys, geese and ducks.

For the first time, the exhibition shows almost the entire important private Frankfurt collection of Carlo Giersch and is supplemented by numerous loans from Berlin, Hamburg, Hanau and Leipzig. The presentation extends across almost all areas of the Liebieghaus and places Gaul’s work in a multifaceted dialogue with the collection. A particular highlight is the larger-than-life eagle in the museum garden, which the artist originally created for the Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument in Berlin. Unlike traditional heroic depictions, the bird is shown here landing on its nest—an impressive example of Gaul’s artistic programme of replacing the animal’s political symbolism with its natural behaviour. His work aligns with contemporary scientific research and the study of animal psychology, such as that of Charles Darwin. This is particularly evident in the juxtaposition of Gaul’s 1895 Portrait of the Orangutan “Jumbo” (1895) with an ancient portrait of the Roman emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius (after 169 AD).

The exhibition showcases Gaul’s work within the context of his exploration of the relationship between art and science, while also shedding light on socially relevant issues of his time. The theme of the close relationship between humans and animals runs like a thread through the entire exhibition. This theme was already reflected in popular culture during Gaul’s lifetime: Margarete Steiff invented the teddy bear, while Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book shaped generations’ ideas about humans and animals in the context of survival and the wilderness. All of this reflects the fascination of an era in which animals became a mirror image of humans. The exhibition concludes with a media installation featuring images of animals from social networks, offering a contemporary perspective on the relationship between humans and animals.

“Around 1900, the image of animals became a field of experimentation for modernism. Young sculptors such as August Gaul sought new forms of artistic expression, capturing animals not as symbols of mythology, Christianity or political power, but as living, sentient beings—artistically reduced to basic forms, characterized by a quiet presence and at the same time precisely observed. As a lively venue for viewing sculpture, the Liebieghaus allows visitors to experience how August Gaul’s modern visual language interacts with the long history of sculpture”, explains Philipp Demandt, Director of the Liebieghaus Skulpturensammlung.

“The August Gaul collection is very close to our hearts. We are delighted that we can now present the works in such a comprehensive setting in our own neighbourhood and thus contribute to the communication of art history”, adds Carlo Giersch, collector and sponsor of the exhibition.

“With the exhibition Animals Are Only Humans Too. Sculptures by August Gaul, an important modern artist and a multifaceted subject are impressively rediscovered. At the same time, the project demonstrates the cultural dynamism that emerges when institutions, collectors, and sponsors from the Rhine-Main region join forces. This close regional cooperation is a strong sign of the effective cultural collaboration within our region,” says Susanne Völker, Managing Director of the Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain.

“As the Städelscher Museums-Verein, we are delighted to support this outstanding exhibition project. It impressively demonstrates how art repeatedly opens up new perspectives on humanity—in this case, through an examination of August Gaul’s depictions of animals. His work combines empathy, precise observation of nature and creative subtlety in a touching way”, said Sylvia von Metzler, Chair of the Städel Museum Association.

“Gaul’s sculptures combine tenderness with austere clarity. For the first time in European art history, he depicts animals as independent individuals. Embedded in the historical collection of the Liebieghaus, one senses the liveliness of the animals and, at the same time, the masterful precision of the forms with which Gaul captures nature in a modern way”, adds Vinzenz Brinkmann, curator of the exhibition and head of the Liebieghaus Department of Antiquities.

The Exhibition

August Gaul was born in Großauheim near Hanau on 22 October 1869 and began his training at the Royal Prussian Academy of Drawing in Hanau. In 1888, he moved to Berlin, where he became a master student of the sculptor Reinhold Begas (1831- 1911). Gaul’s life coincided with a period of profound political and economic upheava —from the Franco-Prussian War to the foundation of the German Empire and the First World War—the tensions of which resonate subtly in his work. As early as 1890, Gaul won a season ticket to the Berlin Zoological Garden, where he sketched lions, orangutans, penguins and other animals in the early hours of the morning. These precise observations formed the basis of his life’s work. Gaul no longer depicted animals as symbols of power or domination, but as independent, sentient beings. This is particularly evident in the Standing Lioness (1899–1900), whose caring expression and harmonious form reveal an emotional depth rarely seen in European animal sculpture.

The exhibition begins with the Portrait of the Orangutan ‘Jumbo’ (1895), an orangutan from the Leipzig Circus, thus setting the theme of the close relationship between humans and animals. In the Egyptian Hall, Gaul’s sculptures are displayed alongside those of sacred animals, such as the bull (Apis) and the cat (Bastet). Gaul’s The Donkey Rider (c. 1907) conveys playful closeness and humorously subverts the heroic tradition of ancient equestrian statues. Since ancient times, humans have associated animals with divine power or mythological significance, as the sacred animals of ancient Egypt demonstrate: bulls, baboons, crocodiles, scarabs, rams, ibises and falcons were all worshipped, embalmed and treated in elaborate rituals. The exhibition positions Gaul’s sculptures alongside these historical traditions, demonstrating that animals have always been perceived as both a reflection of human ideas and independent beings. In Greek mythology, for example, Orpheus enchanted nature with his lyre, while in the Homeric epics, the struggle of heroes is compared to that of lions and bulls, in Aesop’s fables, animals act like humans.

In Hellenism, the late Greek period, sculptures reveal the increased luxury of the bourgeoisie, often associated with depictions of children and animals that appear morally questionable to the viewer, such as Boethos’s so-called ‘Goose Strangler’ or an ancient sculpture of a boy pulling on a rooster’s wing and stepping on its body. Both works show how ambivalent the relationship between humans and animals was portrayed.

Gaul’s monumental sculptures are testament to his ability to depict animals in an emotionally charged yet lifelike manner. While August Kraus’s lions appear imperious, Gaul’s Standing Lionesses are portrayed as thoughtful, confident and approachable. The eagle for the Kaiser Wilhelm National Monument and the 1904 bear fountain likewise display grandeur, humour and affection, highlighting Gaul’s masterful powers of observation. In the bronze Owl on the Head of Athena (1900), the artist takes up classicist designs, placing the owl on the fragmented head of the goddess. Created for his friend Gerhart Hauptmann, this work demonstrates humour and provides a critical examination of academic traditions and the idealization of ancient motifs.

Biblical motifs such as the Deluge, Noah’s Ark and the “Lamb of God” address humanity’s responsibility towards animals, as well as their symbolic significance as sacrificial and guardian beings. Lambs feature in Jewish, Christian and Islamic traditions, and Gaul thus combines religious symbolism with realistic depictions of animals. Scientific discourse, in particular Charles Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), inspired the artist to observe the expressiveness of animals with precision, while Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (1894–95) provided literary references for depicting animals as mirrors, companions and independent beings.

Gaul’s animal sculptures thus combine precise observations of nature, historical knowledge and literary inspiration with modern artistic expression, creating a unique experience in which animals become tangible, present and palpable.