Göthe, Erik Gustav

Swedish sculptor. In 1795 he entered the Konstakademi in Stockholm where he studied under Johan Tobias Sergel and produced numerous portrait busts. In 1803 he left Stockholm and travelled to Rome via Paris. In Rome he worked with Antonio Canova and under his influence and that of his own studies of Classical sculpture developed a fairly undistinguished Neo-classical style, to which he remained constant for the rest of his career. Among the works he produced in Rome was a seated marble statue of Bacchus (1808; Stockholm, Nmus.). In 1810 he returned to Stockholm where he concentrated on portrait busts and statues of Swedish royalty. One of the most notable of these is the bronze statue of Karl XIII set up in the Royal Gardens in Stockholm in 1821. Between 1822 and 1826 Göthe spent much time in St Petersburg where he produced, among other works, a seated statue of Catherine the Great (1823; St Petersburg, Hermitage) and mythological sculptures such as Venus and Cupid (1823; terracotta model, Stockholm, Nmus.). In 1827 Göthe was appointed professor at the Konstakademi in Stockholm. Thereafter he devoted himself primarily to portrait works and among his later sculptures is a portrait medallion of R. R. Stokoe (1831; Stockholm, Nmus.).