Background
Brendel was born in central Germany, the son of a freight transporter and one of eight children, attending school through the age of 14 and becoming employed variously as a bricklayer, plasterer, and iron moulder in a foundry.
Brendel was born in central Germany, the son of a freight transporter and one of eight children, attending school through the age of 14 and becoming employed variously as a bricklayer, plasterer, and iron moulder in a foundry.
He was the only sculptor profiled in Prinzhorn"s work, and the work also includes more illustrations of his work (twenty-four sculptures and eight drawings) than that of any other profiled artist. His left leg was injured in an accident in 1900, and later amputated. The first records of his mental illness come from 1906, when the prison doctor noticed megalomaniacal delusions and abnormal physical sensations.
Brendel claimed that he has already experienced a sacrificial death, and that he was Jesus Christ.
He was admitted to the Eickelborn asylum, near Lippstadt, in 1907. Brendel"s first artistic expressions came from 1912, when he began modeling obscene figures out of chewed bread.
Although none of his bread sculptures survive, he was encouraged by a physician to begin woodcarving at this time. His favorite subjects for carving were animal reliefs and depictions of his religious hallucinations, particularly the Christ motif.
All of his human figures, including Christ, were usually depicted as hermaphrodites.
Brendel generally worked in hard woods which he then painted or varnished.