Georg Treu


Georg Treu was a Classical archaeologist and curator of the sculpture collection at the Albertinum.

Life

He began as a theology student at the University of Dorpat, then took up archaeology at the Humboldt University of Berlin. In 1866, he became a research assistant in the antiquities collection at the Hermitage Museum and received his PhD in 1874 from the University of Göttingen. He returned to Berlin, where he became a lecturer at the University and Assistant Director for the Berlin State Museums.
During the excavations in Olympia from 1875 to 1881, he was appointed temporary manager. In 1882, he was appointed to replace Hermann Theodor Hettner as curator of the sculpture collection at the Albertinum and served in this position until 1915. He worked to expand the collection, acquiring vases and works in terracotta as well as sculptures.
When the Cabinet of Curiosities belonging to the former Electorate of Saxony was broken up, he took the opportunity to integrate Renaissance and Baroque sculptures into the collection. Several works were acquired through his contacts with contemporary artists such as Auguste Rodin, Constantin Meunier and Max Klinger, adding a modern perspective. In 1891, he opened a collection of casts, which served as a model when Ivan Vladimirovich Tsvetayev established the Pushkin Museum. Finally, in 1900, he opened the Sammlung Treus to document the history of sculpture.
In addition to his duties at the Albertinum, he taught at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts and the Royal Saxon Polytechnic, where he also managed the art collection. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen in 1906 and one from the Polytechnic in 1913.
His grave in the is decorated with a relief by the sculptor Robert Diez. The area between the Albertinum and the Art Academy was named the Georg-Treu-Platz in his honor.

Selected writings