Josef Lorenzl

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Josef Lorenzl (1 September 1892 – 15 August 1950) was an Austrian Art Deco sculptor and ceramicist. He is best known for bronze and chryselephantine figures and for elegant dancing girls with long legs and closed eyes.

He trained at the Vienna Arsenal foundry, where he learned bronze casting. Lorenzl created many bronze and ivory-inlaid sculptures, and his works are often signed with names such as Enzl, Lor, R. Lor, Renz, or Renzl. Occasionally the painter Crejo added color to his pieces. Most of his figurines were mounted on Brazilian green onyx bases.

Lorenzl was also a gifted ceramicist. He produced pieces for Goldscheider from a studio on their grounds, and his ceramics were highly sought after during the Art Deco era. One famous work is The Butterfly Girl, inspired by dancer Niddy Impekoven in the 1920s. He also created pieces for Viennese firms Hertwig & Co. and Keramos Porcelain.

Keramos, a Vienna ceramic company founded in 1910 by disabled war veterans, later became a public company. After Lorenzl’s death, his wife Anna destroyed many of his figurines.