Hubertus von Pilgrim
Hubertus von Pilgrim was a German artist who lived and worked in Pullach, near Munich as a sculptor, printmaker and medallist. He has work in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum and Art Institute of Chicago. Von Pilgrim was Vice-Chancellor of the Pour le Mérite from 2009 to 2013.
Life and career
Von Pilgrim was born in Berlin on 24 August 1931. He studied art history, literature, and philosophy at the University of Heidelberg from 1951 to 1954 while simultaneously being taught sculpture by Erich Heckel. From 1954 to 1960 he studied sculpture under Bernhard Heiliger at the Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. He also studied copperplate printing with Stanley William Hayter in Paris.He taught at Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig from 1963 to 1977, then from 1977 he was a professor at the Academy of [Fine Arts, Munich] until 1995.
Von Pilgrim died in Pullach on 1 January 2026, at the age of 94.
Notable works
- Sculptures for the former Dachau concentration camp, including markers for the route of the death march and relief sculptures for 's chapel
- A head of Konrad Adenauer, outside Palais Schaumburg, Bonn, which according to Sergiusz Michalski draws on Mexican statuary influenced by Toltec monuments while adding a more expressionistic quality
Awards and honours
- 1995: Pour le Mérite
- 1997: Knight Commander's Cross of the Order of Merit of the [Federal Republic of Germany]
- 2005: Bavarian Order of Merit
- 2008: medal