A plastic work of sculptural art made of wood, stone, ivory, bronze or other metals.

While sculptures from wood, ivory or stone are made directly from the block of material, for bronze casting a working model is prepared at first. Usually it is made of clay or other easily shaped materials.

The prime time of sculpture after the Roman antiquity was the Renaissance. Impressionism gave a new impulse to the sculptural arts. Also the contemporary artists, such as Jorg Immendorf, Andora, and Markus Lupertz enriched the sculpture with outstanding works.

The earliest evidence of Chinese art is the finds from the Late Neolithic (around 5000-2000 B.C.) Honan and Lungshan cultures named after their localities. The art forms of the Shang Dynasty (16th century to 11th century B.C.) are made from religious bronze objects, bronze weapons, pottery and jade carvings, which were excavated in the area of today's Changzhou. During the Chang-kuo period (481 – 222 B.C.), the independence of the feudal lords led to the flourishing luxury in the princely tombs. The bronze mirror, glockenspiels and head masks which defended from demons as well as wooden figures, jade carvings and described silk scarves were excavated in the province of Hupeh (Hubei).

Western Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 9 A.D.)
China's supremacy in Central Asia is testified to by numerous archaeological finds. Amongst the most important was the burial suit of Princess Tou Wan of 2160 pieces of jade sewn together with gold thread, discovered in a burial mound, 150 km southwest of Beijing in 1968. In addition to numerous grave goods, the famous lamp of Mancheng and a bronze sculpture of a palace maid gilded with gold were also discovered there. Stone reliefs and murals depict historical themes and bear witness to the high level of art of this period.

Six Dynasties Period (221–589)
In the third century Buddha and Bodhisattvas appeared as a part of the décor on mirrors and as gold-plated small sculptures.

Tang Dynasty (618 – 906)
Under the Tang rulers a united China grew into a cosmopolitan empire. The sophisticated gold and silversmithing shows influences of foreign cultures. The presence of foreigners can also be seen in the ceramic tomb figures of this time.

Song Dynasty (960–1279)
The indicator for the painting of the Northern Song period is the development of a specifically Chinese landscape painting. During the Song period, the ceramics experienced an artistic highpoint.

Yuan Dynasty (1279 - 1368)
Although painting and calligraphy were not encouraged by the rulers, they developed to new heights.Towards the end of the Yuan period, the first blue and white porcelain emerged.

Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644)
This period saw the emergence of the first book printing and the printing of color woodblock. Art connoisseurship and collecting increased. In painting, new levels of high performance have been reached. The Ming Dynasty of the 15th century is the golden age of blue and white porcelain and porcelain with copper or iron red underglaze painting.

Ch'ing and Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1912)

The art traditions of former periods were continued. As before, the painting played a significant role.The porcelain art of the period is of high quality. In addition to blue and white porcelain, opaque products from biscuit porcelain were increasingly manufactured. Chinese porcelain is a popular collection object since the 17th century.

Günter Dietz developed a revolutionary method for the authentic reproduction of images, where not the usual printing inks are used, but the same original colors used by the artist. Depending on the artist's painting technique, up to 180 (!) various paint applications need to be applied in order to achieve a perfect replica of the original that also sensationally reflects the "relief" and pastosity of colour composition.

Here are the examples of  'Couple at the Garden Table' by August Macke:

Similarly, the material of the original carrier, such as reproduction on canvas, paper, wood, copper, parchment is always used.

The result is a perfect, gridless reproduction that comes very close to the original in expressiveness and effect. Even museum specialists often can not distinguish the replica from the original. Therefore, a special security notice must be inserted, which is visible only under X-rays.

The circulation of most of the Dietz replicas is limited, usualy to 950 copies. Each canvas replica is stretched onto a frame as the original, so you can retighten the canvas according to variations in room temperature and humidity. High-quality solid wood strips round off the image of every Dietz replica.

Numerous masterpiece paintings of Rembrandt, Caspar David Friedrich, Claude Monet, Gustav Klimt and various others have been recreated by the Dietz Offizin. Famous modern artists such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Joan Miró, Marc Chagall used the method developed by Günter Dietz to have replicas of their works produced.

Press commentaries:

“The Dietz System provides images as good as the originals. What the electronics did with the invention of Hi-Fi and stereo for music playback - here the graphic technology made up for visual art.“ (Die Zeit)

“In theory there is no difference between the original and the Dietz replica. They should not be called reproductions, but facsimiles.“ (Newsweek)

“For art printers all over the world remains unrealizable to this day, what managed only Dietz with the help of printing technology: The perfect reproduction of painted works. “ (Der Spiegel)

Konrad Adenauer at the presentation of Dietz replica of the frieze "To the young St. Peter" (Bundeshaus Bonn)



Günter Dietz (on the left) and Marino Marini