Valerie Otte: Sculpture 'Loreley' (2023), reduction in artificial marble

The story of the Loreley, who combs her golden hair and lures ships to their doom, is one of the best-known German myths. It made a worldwide career at the latest in the form of the song by Friedrich Silcher to a text by Heinrich Heine ('Ich weiß nicht, was soll es bedeuten...'). However, the story is not a 'fairy tale from ancient times', as Heine put it: in the form we know today, it originated in the imagination of the Romantic poet Clemens Brentano and has since become so deeply embedded in the cultural memory of Germans that the Loreley has inspired numerous works of poetry, music and visual art. There are good reasons for St. Goarshausen to erect monuments to the Loreley: She has made the town world-famous and an attraction. One has been standing at the foot of the rock for some time. Since spring 2023, there has been a second one in a much more prominent location, on the Loreley plateau itself. The 2.20-metre-high sculpture was created by Berlin sculptor Valerie Otte, whose design won out over more than 50 competitors in a national realisation competition with subsequent public participation. Valerie Otte depicts the beautiful Loreley classically on a rocky pedestal and has added a number of insignia from the history of the Loreley to her figure. Her flowing hair resembles the course of a river. In her version of the Loreley, however, the artist emphasises less the gruesome nature of the danger that, according to legend, she represents for the boatmen. In her own words, she is trying to show a 'feminine view of the Loreley' - as a woman who mourns her beloved and is 'very absorbed in herself and her thoughts'. Original: 2023, bronze, height 220 cm, Loreley rock plateau on the Middle Rhine, Rhineland-Palatinate. Sculpture in artificial marble. Moulded from the original and reduced in size (reduction). Signed in the mould. With certificate of authenticity. Size approx. 22.5 x 9 x 8 cm (h/w/d). Weight approx. 0.6 kg. ars mundi exclusive edition.