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Sonnenschein, (Johann) Valentin
(b Stuttgart, 22 May 1749; d Berne, 22 Sept 1828). German sculptor, stuccoist and teacher. He was one of the leading German sculptors in the transitional period between Rococo and Neo-classicism. He trained in Stuttgart in 1761 with the stuccoist Luigi Bossi, then with the sculptor Christian Friedrich Wilhelm Beyer at the Stuttgart Akademie (Karlsschule). Having entered the service of Charles-Eugene, Duke of Württemberg, he created his first independent works at the age of 20 for Schloss Solitude, outside Stuttgart. In 1771 he was appointed stuccoist to the court, and in 1772 he became a member of the Kunstakademie at Ludwigsburg; he also worked as a modeller for the Ludwigsburg Porcelain Factory (see LUDWIGSBURG, §2). In 1773 he became a tutor at the Karlsschule, where one of his pupils was Johann Heinrich von Dannecker, later one of the leading representatives of German Neo-classicism. Few of Sonnenschein’s works from his years in Stuttgart survive. Feeling exploited by the Duke, he left for Zurich, where he was befriended by Johann Kasper Lavater. At the Kunstschule, founded in 1779 by Salomon Gessner and Johann-Martin Usteri, he was in charge of drawing from casts after the Antique. While in Zurich he executed graceful stucco decorations for two rooms in the house ‘Zum Kiel’ (in situ). His small-scale sculptures of these years bear a close relationship to the figure types in Gessner’s paintings and etchings. In addition he provided models for the Zurich Faience and Porcelain Factory in Kilchberg-Schooren on Lake Zurich, for example the putto group of the ‘Einsiedler’ table service (see ZURICH, §3). From 1779 to 1815 he was a professor at the newly established Kunstschule in Berne, also continuing to work as a sculptor and modeller. He sculpted portrait busts of the mayors of both Zurich and Berne: the former, Johann Konrad Heidegger (bronze, 1778; Zurich, Schweizer. Landesmus.), is in a classicizing style, depicting him all’antica, while the latter, Rudolf von Sinner (terracotta; Berne, Kstmus.), is a more realistic interpretation of the sitter in contemporary dress, as are Sonnenschein’s numerous small-scale full-length portrait groups, for example the terracotta Susanna Rosina Kupfer (h. 335 mm, 1798; Zurich, Schweizer. Landesmus.).
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