Career
After an apprenticeship as a carpenter, he embarked on a two-year tour of Belgium and the Netherlands. From 1870 to 1871, he learned stone masonry in Wiedenbrück. He worked there until 1878, when he entered the Prussian Academy of Arts, studying sculpture under Reinhold Begas and Fritz Schaper.
In 1882 he was enrolled in Begas" Master Student class and worked as his assistant until 1891, opening his own studio in 1892.
He became a Professor at the Academy and joined the Secession in 1899. He was one of the sculptors commissioned to produce statues for the Siegesallee, a monumental project conceived by Kaiser Wilhelm II as his gift to the people of.
Uphues produced two sets of figures, dedicated in 1899: Group 28, featuring Frederick the Great with side figures of Graf Kurt Christoph von Schwerin and Johann Sebastian Bach. As is the case with virtually all of the Siegesallee statues, his were damaged during World World War II and are currently displayed at the Spandau Citadel.
The Bach figure has disappeared.
