Nicolas Joseph Cito (called Josy), better known by his artist name Claus Cito, was born in Bascharage. He was the second child of Jean Cito, a blacksmith and tenant of a small bistro, and Suzanne Leik. His mother died when Nicolas was only three years old. Cito was sent to Arlon for his secondary education where he began to take evening classes in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts. After his father’s death, he was able to embark on an artist career. He returned to his hometown in 1898 where he started as an apprentice to a painter from 1899 to 1900). He then continued his training in Düsseldorf, where he attended evening classes at the Kunstgewerbeschule from 1901 to 1903. Two years later, Cito enrolled at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf. While studying, he worked for the department store Kaufhaus Tietz in Düsseldorf. From 1905 to 1907, he was employed as a set designer at the new theatre (Das neue Schauspielhaus) in Düsseldorf. Between 1909 and 1921, Cito lived in Brussels, first in Ixelles and then in Watermael-Boitsfort. He attended classes at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, while working in the studio of a sculptor. In 1922, Cito returned to his home town after winning the competition to execute the Monument du Souvenir (better known by its Luxembourgish nickname "Gëlle Fra"). Back in Bascharage, Cito opened a sculpture studio with one assistant, specialising in the creation of funerary sculptures, which earned him the title "Kreuzemacher" (cross maker). Cito’s family always supported the artist financially during his studies and his career, as he was hardly able to make a living from his art throughout his entire life. During the Second World War, he was imprisoned for a short time. Cito considered the life of an artist to be incompatible with family life (Reitz 106).

Cito spent a number of years abroad. He travelled through Europe (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and France). A visit to Paris in 1925 had a considerable influence on his creative style. Furthermore, Cito's work can be divided into three periods: The Düsseldorf period reaching from 1900 to 1907; the years 1909 to 1921 when he lived in Brussels and finally the Luxembourg period reaching from 1921 to1965.  

Cito's artistic activities covered various fields. He embarked on his artistic journey with painting, and then expanded his repertoire to include sculpture and scenography after discovering that he suffered from a certain degree of colour blindness. Moreover, he explored engraving, drawing, and creating medals. In 1904, the temporary exhibition of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) in Düsseldorf (as part of the great Internationale Kunstausstellung, Kunsthistorische Ausstellung und Große Gartenbau-Ausstellung) had an important influence on his work. At that time, he worked as a set designer at the Schauspielhaus in Düsseldorf. He designed several avant-garde sets. In addition, he was appointed artistic advisor by Peter Behrens (1868 - 1940), the director of the Kunstgewerbeschule, to mediate in the reformative artistic collaboration between two cultural institutions, the Kunstgewerbeschule and the Schauspielhaus.

As a sculptor, he specialised in the creation of tombs, memorials (especially war memorials), busts (preferably in marble), figures, portraits and reliefs. His first important commissions came from Brussels. He produced busts and portraits of private individuals, but also became famous for his public memorial sculptures. According to the historian Jean Reitz, the female figure in Cito’s work Monument du Major Ernest-François Cambier (1913-14) in a way anticipated the Gëlle Fra (67). The national monument Gëlle Fra a sculpture on top of an obelisk, also represents a fully gilded young woman and shows ample Art Nouveau elements, Notably, it was created almost a decade after the Cambier monument. His style evolved from Academic Naturalism, which he had studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, to a brief period of Art Nouveau, Art Deco and Neoclassicism.

Finally, Cito participated in the Luxembourg Secession movement of 1927, which showed more avant-garde tendencies. He also benefited from an excellent training as a medallist under Rudolf Bosselt (1871-1938) in Düsseldorf.  An example of his works is the 1935 bronze medal of H.R.H. Grand Duchess Charlotte. The motifs Cito used met the taste of the bourgeoisie at the turn of the century, when female nudes, squatting or kneeling, were very popular and widespread.

According to art historian Sabine Dorscheid, Cito was unable to continue his work during the Second World War. He was forced to close down his studio. During this period, he devoted himself to more unrestrained subjects. As an example, in the sculpture Die Fröstelnde (1940-41), he abandoned flatness, typical of academic style, in favour of a more vivid surface. He did alike in Die Kniende (1940). His repertoire also included erotic depictions of women, such as Leda date (or Girl with Flowers, 1925). In several cases, the sculptor played with the material, e.g. by revealing theinner form of the block of stone. He contrasted artistic beauty with the beauty of the raw material. Finally, towards the end of his life, he simplified his forms to the essential (Dorscheid quoted in Reitz 156+).

Cito participated in several national and international exhibitions. In Luxembourg, he took an active part in artistic life until 1930: From 1909, he exhibited at the Salon du Cercle Artistique (CAL). In 1927, he left the CAL for the Salon de la Sécession. Cito co-founded the national Seccession movement and took part in all three of its Salons (1927, 1929, and 1930). He is the only Secessionist who did not exhibit at the CAL later in his life. Cito exhibited at the Universal Exhibitions several times: at the Exposition universelle et internationale de Bruxelles in 1910, at the 1922 Independence Centenary International Exposition held in Rio de Janeiro and at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. During the Second World War, the regime forced him to take part in two exhibitions in 1943. After the war, he stopped displaying his work, with the exception of the exhibition Jos Sunnen and Claus Cito, which was shown in Mondorf in 1959. Since his death, two major retrospectives have been devoted to him (1989 and 2000). In 2010, his most famous sculpture and national monument, the Gëlle Fra, was sent to the World Exhibition in Shanghai, before being the focus of a major retrospective in Luxembourg.

At the beginning of his career, his uncle and godfather Nicolas Cito (1866-1949) played a decisive role in his life. He introduced him to various (colonial) circles in Brussels. This provided him with a private clientele, which in turn led to his first public commission in 1913. At the Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf, Cito was trained by Rudolf Bosslet (1871-1938) and Fritz Ehmcke (1878-1965). At the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, he was inspired by the sculptor Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919). Cito worked with leading figures in the art world, including his teacher Peter Behrens (1868-1940) and his friend August Macke (1887-1914). At the Schauspielhaus in Düsseldorf, he collaborated with the theatre director Gustav Lindemann (1872-1960) and his wife, the actress Louise Dumont (1862-1932). During a short stay in Düsseldorf in 1916, Cito met the two future Luxembourg Secessionists Nico Klopp and Joseph (Jos) Sünnen. At the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Brussels, Cito studied drawing from nature and sculpture under Paul Du Bois. In Brussels, he was active in a sculpture studio, probably that of Charles Samuel. Later, in his own studio in Luxembourg, Cito employed three assistant sculptors (Emile Goedgen, Aloyse Weins and Aurelio Sabatini). During his time in Luxembourg, he portrayed the bourgeoisie, but also members of the Grand Ducal family, including the Grand Duchess Charlotte (1896-1985). After his death, the artist’s estate, preserved in his original studio, was inherited by his housekeeper.

Cito’s work is represented in several national collections, including the Musée national d'archéologie, d'histoire et d'art (MNAHA) and Les 2 Musées de la Ville de Luxembourg.

He created several funerary and commemorative monuments for the public space in Brussels and Luxembourg, including the abovementioned famous Gëlle Fra in Luxembourg City.

In 1905, Cito became a member of the artistic council of the Schauspielhaus Düsseldorf (1905-1907). In 1926, he became a member of the CAL, which he left in 1927 to join the Luxembourg Secession and the Association des Arts Decoratifs (ARDECO). He was a member of the jury of several other organisations, including the Kommission für die Meisterprüfung der Handwerkerschule (commission for the master’s examination of the school of crafts) in Luxembourg. In collaboration with the Compagnie des Bronzes in Brussels, Cito produced the first plaster models and cast figures for the Gëlle Fra (Monument du Souvenir). During the Second World War, he was forced to participate in the activities of the Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV) (1942), the Volksdeutsche Bewegung (VDB) and the Kunstkreis (1943).

Cito was awarded the Prix Grand-Duc Adolphe in 1909. In 1910, he won a gold medal in the section “Group XII – Decoration and Furniture for Public Buildings and Dwellings” at the Exposition universelle et internationale de Bruxelles. In 1922, he won an award for the Gëlle Fra, a monument erected in 1923 on the Place de la Constitution in Luxembourg City to commemorate the victims of the First World War. Dismantled by the Germans in 1940, the monument was restored (by national subscription) and inaugurated a second time in 1985. In Art History, Cito's fame is mainly associated with this sculpture. Over time, the Gëlle Fra became a symbol of national independence and freedom (Georgette page unknown). From its unveiling in 1923 to the present day, the sculpture has been the subject to much criticism. In her 1995 reference work on the artist, the historian Lotty Braun-Breck describes how the statue was received by the press, ranging from praise to a storm of indignation. The press even described it as an aesthetic-artistic monstrosity in light clothing (41). In 2001, the sculpture returned to the limelight when it inspired Sanja Ivekovic (born in 1949) to create Lady Rosa of Luxembourg, a pregnant copy of the Gëlle Fra. Ivekovic presented her sculpture at the exhibition Luxembourg, les Luxembourgeois: consensus et passions. This contemporary version immediately provoked a great deal of controversy. It called into question the sacredness of the statue, representing some of the most important values of collective memory, i.e. national unity and general resistance during the Second World War (Dorscheid 88). The artwork provided an opportunity to discuss, up to the highest political authorities, the importance of art, history and gender relations in Luxembourg’s past and present (Oppel quoted in Dorscheid 89). Last but not least, in 2010, the Gëlle Fra travelled abroad to Shanghai to represent Luxembourg at the World Expo in China. Art historian Catherine Lorent noted that most of the other participating countries had also considered sending an authentic national symbol (Dorscheid 90).

Already during Cito’s lifetime, a sculpture by Cito had caused polemics in 1926. The funerary monument (of Jean Nicolas Logelin), depicting a young woman without religious signs, was vandalised several times (Reitz 103). Nevertheless, in 1927, when Cito became a member of the Luxembourg Secession, he was described as an artist from a small village who was passionately devoted to art, close to nature, naturalistic and in search of divine unity in his creations (Molling 499+). In 1935, Cito affirmed that it was difficult, in terms of style, to discard the naturalism taught at the academy in favour of greater simplicity, following the example of Antoine Bourdelle (1861-1929), a pupil of Auguste Rodin (1840-1917) and teacher of Alberto Giacometti (1901-1966) and Henri Matisse (1869-1954), without ever turning to abstraction (Marx page unknown).

By the end of his life, Cito was an established artist whose sculptures and reliefs were highly appreciated by all enthusiasts (L.d. page unknown). In 2010, art historian Sabine Dorscheid noted that, although Cito was aware of the stylistic developments of his time, he himself often adopted them with a certain delay (Reitz 159). Fifteen years after his death, the journalist Marie-Jo Hick reported on what happened to Cito's estate he left in his workshop (Hick quoted in Reitz 109). In Germany, historian Helmut Grosse brought to light Cito's lesser-known skill as an avant-garde set designer at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf. Despite being overshadowed by the fame of his friend and colleague, the Expressionist painter August Macke, Cito's talent often went unnoticed (Grosse quoted in Reitz 46-47).

Although Cito did not play a pioneering role in art history, he is now recognised in Luxembourg for his true value as one of the greatest Luxembourg sculptors of the 20^th century. He has also inspired many contemporary artists to deal with the history of their native country, including Jerry Heintz, Marco Godinho and Filip Markiewicz.

Works cited

Braun-Breck, Lotty, and Lambert Herr. Claus Cito: 1882-1965 und seine Zeit. Esch-sur-Alzette: Schortgen, 2010. Print.

Dorscheid, Sabine, and Jean Reitz. Exposition d’Gëlle Fra: 11.12.10-23.01.11 Käerjeng. Luxembourg: Agence luxembourgeoise d’action culturelle, 2010. Exhibition catalogue.

Georgette. "Claus Cito, le sculpteur de Bascharage: une conférence de Mme Lotty Braun-Breck au Hall ’75." Luxemburger Wort 30.09.2000 : unknown. 

Hick, Marie-Jo. "Les Œuvres de Klaus Cito disperséées aux quatre vents ?" Républicain Lorrain 18.07.1980 : unknown.

L.d. „Ausstellung von Skulpturen und Gemälden in Bad-Mondorf.“ Tageblatt 28.01.1960: unknown.

Marx, Emile. "Unser Interview: Atelierbesuch bei Klaus Cito," Revue AZ 18.03.1934: unknown. Magazine.

Oppel, Pia. "’Gëlle Frau’ et ‘Lady Rosa’ une controverse culturelle du début du XXIe siècle au Luxembourg." Master Thesis. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, 2009. Print.

Reitz, Jean, Jeff Barden, and Sabine Dorscheid. Claus Cito: eine luxemburgische Bildhauerkarriere: Niederkerschen, 1882-1965: Werkverzeichnis. Luxembourg: Agence luxembourgeoise d'action culturelle, 2014, 46. Print.