Great Art - German Art
Great Art - German Art
Great Art - German Art
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The fine art, architecture, sculpture, graphic art, and applied art of Germany and Austria 1900-1945
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'SIGMUND FREUD'
Ferdinand Schmutzer (1870-1928)
'RICHARD STRAUSS'
Ferdinand Schmutzer (1870-1928)
Ferdinand Schmutzer (1870-1928)
Hans Thoma (October 2, 1839 - November 7, 1924) was a well known and well listed
German painter and print maker.
He started his life as a painter of clock faces.
In 1859 he entered the Karlsruhe Academy where he studied under Johann Wilhelm
Schirmer (1825-1903) (specialist in landscape painting) and Ludwig des Coudres (1820-
1878).
He left the Academy at the end of 1866 and moved to Dusseldorf.
There he met Otto Scholderer and went to Paris in May 1868.
In Paris he was influenced by Gustave Courbet (1831-1877). In spite of his studies under
various contemporary masters, his art has little in common with modern ideas and is
partly formed by his early impressions of the simple idyllic life of his native district, partly
by his sympathy with the early German masters, particularly Altdorf and Cranach.
In his love of detail in nature, in his precise drawing of outline, and in his preference for
local color, he has distinct affinities with the Pre-Raphaelites.
In 1890 he had his first successful exhibition at the Munich Kunstverein.
He subsequently joined the Munich succession.
In 1899 Thoma was made director of a gallery in Karlsruhe and was appointed professor
at the art academy there. During his career he received many honors.
'DER VERLORENE SOHN' - (The Prodigal Son)
Hans Thoma (1839 - 1924)
'FLUTEBOY'
Joseph Uhl - (1877-1945)
'SOMMERWONNE' - (SUMMER JOY)
Joseph Uhl - (1877-1945)
Born on 5 December 1868, in Karlsruhe, Germany, Moest was the son of the sculptor
Karl Friedrich Moest 1838-1927).
After being instructed by his father, Moest solidified his knowledge and skills from 1885 to
1888 at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe.
After this he studied under Otto Seitz (1846-1912) and Alexander von Liezen-Mayer
(1839-1898) at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.
From 1914 he lived and worked in Berlin, becoming an established figure painter and
illustrator.Hermann Moest married on 1 October 1904 in Hannover, Emma Priscilla
Benfey.
He died on 10 December 1945 in Berlin.
'AKT MIT BOGEN'
Hermann Moest, 1868 -1945
'NUDE EPHEBE IN HEROIC POSE'
Georg von Hoesslin (1851-1923)
George (Georg) von Hoesslin (1851-1923) is an interesting figure in art in view of his
origins and study. German by heritage, but born in Hungary and educated in the United
States, after his family emigrated to North America in 1856.
In 1870 he wanted to study art and returned to Europe (München) where he studied
painting at the Academy of Fine Arts.
In München, (Munich), he trained under Wilhelm Lindenschmit (1829 -1 895), a German
history painter. He traveled to Rome and Venice for additional studies later on.
In 1880 he returned to Boston, Mass.
He made return trips to München after his return to America.
His paintings are displayed in Museums in Boston (Museum of Fine Art) and in Europe.
This drawing is not signed but has von Hoesslin's estate stamp on the reverse and came
from his estate (Nachlass George Von Hoesslin stamp on the reverse).
The drawing is probably a preparatory study for an historical painting, part of his oeuvre
of portraits and historical paintings.
'DER ARBEND' - (The Evening)
Max Klinger
'BEETHOVEN'
Max Klinger
'DIE WASSERFRAU' - (The Lady of the Waters)
Hermann Prell (April 29, 1854 - May 18, 1922)
'IM WALDE - DES KNABEN WUNDERHORN'
(In the Forest - The Boy's Magical Horn)
Schwind von Moritz - (1804-1871)
Moritz von Schwind (January 21, 1804 - February 8, 1871) was an Austrian painter, born
in Vienna.
Moritz von Schwind received rudimentary training and spent a happy and carefree youth in
Vienna. Among his companions was the composerSchubert, some of whose songs he illustrated.
In 1828, the year of Schubert's death, he moved to Munich, where he befriended the
painter Schnorr and enjoyed the guidance of Cornelius, then director of the Academy.
In 1834 he was commissioned to decorate King Ludwig's new palace with wall paintings
illustrating the works of the poet Tieck.
In the revival of art in Germany, Schwind held as his own the sphere of poetic fancy.
He decorated a villa in Leipzig with the story of Cupid and Psyche, and further justified his title of
poet-painter with designs from the Niebelungenlied and Tasso's Gerusalemme for the walls of the
castle of Hohenschwangau in Bavarian Tirol.
From the year 1844 dates his residence in Frankfurt during which he created some of his finest
easel pictures, most notably the "Singers' Contest" in the Wartburg (1846), as well as designs for
the Goethe celebration. In 1847 Schwind returned to Munich on being appointed professor in the
academy.
Eight years later his fame was at its height on the completion in the castle of the Wartburg of wall
pictures illustrative of the "Singers' Contest" and of the history of Elizabeth of Hungary.
The compositions received universal praise, and at a grand musical festival in their honour,
Schwind himself was one of the violinists. In 1857 he visited England to report officially to King
Ludwig on the Manchester art treasures. So diversified were his gifts that he turned his hand to
church windows and joined his old friend Schnorr in designs for the painted glass in Glasgow
Cathedral.Towards the close of his career, with broken health and his powers on the wane, he
revisited Vienna. During this time, he created the cycle from the legend of Melusine and the
designs commemorative of chief musicians which decorate the foyer of the Vienna State Opera.
Cornelius writes, "You have translated the joy of music into pictorial art." Schwind's genius was
lyrical - he drew inspiration from chivalry, folk-lore, and the songs of the people.
Schwind died in Pöcking in Bavaria, and was buried in the Alter Südfriedhof in Munich.
The title 'Des Knaben Wunderhorn' was used by Gustav Mahler (1860-1911) for one of his song-
cycles.
'ROSE'
Schwind von Moritz - (1804-1871)
Ludwig von Hofmann (1861 – 1945) - working on his self-portrait
Ludwig von Hofmann (August 17, 1861 – August 23, 1945) was a German painter.
Born in Darmstadt, 1861, Ludwig von Hofmann first studied law in Bonn from 1880 to
1883.
He then commenced studies in art at the Dresden Academy (1883-1886) and in the master
class of Ferdinand Keller (1886-1888).
In the following year, Ludwig von Hofmann enrolled at the Academie Julien, Paris.
There he was strongly impressed by the art of contemporary French painters, such as
Puvis de Chavannes, Albert Besnard and Maurice Denis.
Ludwig von Hofmann returned to Germany in 1890 and settled in Berlin for the following
thirteen years.
Ludwig von Hofmann's years in Berlin were very eventful.
There he was a founding member of both 'The Eleven' and the 'Berlin Secession'.
During this period, Hofmann was also a founding member of the influential arts
periodical, Pan.
He contributed numerous illustrations to Pan, including the famous cover decoration.
As Ludwig von Hofmann's reputation grew, his circle of acquaintances and associates
would include such masters of art and literature as Arnold Bocklin, Edward Munch, Max
Klinger, Gerhard Hauptmann and Stefan George.
In 1898, none other than Rainer Maria Rilke dedicated two of his poems to Ludwig von
Hofmann and his art.
In 1903, Ludwig von Hofmann accepted the post of Professor at the Archducal School of
Art, in Weimar. During his years at Weimar, he devoted much of his time to painting
commissioned murals.
Collectors of his art at this time included the Empress of Austria and the novelist, Thomas
Mann.
He died in 1945.
His style was impressionist, and he painted many paintings, such as his well-known
"Rain", in a mixture of impressionist and classical.
'FRÜHLING' - (SPRING)
Ludwig von Hofmann (1861 – 1945)
'FRUEHLINGSSTURM'
Ludwig von Hofmann (1861 – 1945)
'BADENDE KNABEN'
Ludwig von Hofmann (1861 – 1945)
'SELF PORTRAIT'
Lovis Corinth - (1885 - 1925)
Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German painter and printmaker whose
mature work realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.
Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Secession group, later succeeding
Max Liebermann as the group's president.
His early work was naturalistic in approach.
Corinth was initially antagonistic towards the expressionist movement, but after a stroke in
1911 his style loosened and took on many expressionistic qualities.
His use of color became more vibrant, and he created portraits and landscapes of
extraordinary vitality and power.
Corinth's subject matter also included nudes and biblical scenes.
'CRUCIFIED THIEF'
Lovis Corinth - (1885 - 1925)
"MARTYRDOM'
Lovis Corinth - (1885 - 1925)
"PARADISE' (1912)
Lovis Corinth - (1885 - 1925)
Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most
prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement.
His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects.
Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism—nowhere is
this more apparent than in his numerous drawings in pencil
Klimt's work is often distinguished by elegant gold or coloured decoration, spirals and swirls, and phallic
shapes used to conceal the more erotic positions of the drawings upon which many of his paintings are
based. This can be seen in Judith I (1901), and in The Kiss (1907–1908), and especially in Danaë (1907).
One of the most common themes Klimt used was that of the dominant woman, the femme fatale.
Art historians note an eclectic range of influences contributing to Klimt's distinct style, including
Egyptian, Minoan, Classical Greek, and Byzantine inspirations.
Klimt was also inspired by the engravings of Albrecht Dürer, late medieval European painting, and
Japanese Rimpa school. His mature works are characterized by a rejection of earlier naturalistic styles,
such as The Glasgow School, from which he was heavily influenced, and make use of symbols or
symbolic elements to convey psychological ideas and emphasize the "freedom" of art from traditional
culture. He was keenly interested in exploring Freudian issues surrounding psychoanalysis in his works.
In his work Jurisprudence there is a focus on Freudian issues of sexual repression, and castration theory.
The three sirens in the painting look down at a withered man reproachfully, and he is shamed by his
nakedness. The maw of the octopus is opened and level with the man's genitalia connoting some sort of
castration. Freudian issues gave his work a dark intricacy that would be highly influential for future
artists.
'SPIRIT OF VICTORY'
Franz von Stuck - (1863 - 1928)
Franz Stuck (February 24, 1863 - August 30, 1928) was a German symbolist/Art Nouveau
painter, sculptor, engraver, and architect.
Stuck was born at Tettenweis, in Bavaria.
From an early age he displayed an affinity for drawing and caricature. To begin his artistic
education in 1878 he went to Munich, where he would settle for life.
From 1881 to 1885 Stuck attended the Munich Academy.
He first made a name with cartoons for Fliegende Blätter, and vignette designs for
programmes and book decoration.
In 1889 he exhibited his first paintings at the Munich Glass Palace, winning a gold medal for
'The Guardian of Paradise'.
In 1892 Stuck co-founded the Munich Secession, and also executed his first sculpture,
'Athlete'.
The following year he won further acclaim with the critical and public success of what is
now his most famous work, 'The Sin'. Also in 1893, Stuck was awarded a gold medal for
painting at the Chicago World's Fair and was appointed to a royal professorship.
In 1895 he began teaching painting at the Munich Academy.In 1897 Stuck married an
American widow, Mary Lindpainter, and began work designing his own residence and studio,
the Villa Stuck.
His designs for the villa included everything from layout to interior decorations; for his
furniture Stuck received another gold medal at the 1900 Paris World Exposition.
Having attained a high degree of fame by this time, Stuck was elevated to the aristocracy on
December 9, 1905 and would receive further public honours from around Europe during the
remainder of his life.
Even as new trends in art left Stuck behind, he continued to be highly respected among young
artists in his capacity as professor at the Munich Academy.
Notable students of his over the years include Paul Klee, Hans Purrmann, Wassily
Kandinsky, and Josef Albers.
Franz von Stuck died in 1928.
'SELF PORTRAIT'
Franz von Stuck - (1863 - 1928)
'CRUCIFIXION'
Franz von Stuck - (1844-1916)
'AMOR'
Franz von Stuck - (1863 - 1928)
Rudolph Karl Alexander Schneider, commonly known as Sascha Schneider (21 September
1870 – 1927), was a German painter and sculptor.Schneider was born in Saint Petersburg.
In 1881, during his childhood, his family moved to Zürich.
After the death of his father, Schneider lived in Dresden, where he was a student at the
Kreuzgymnasium. He studied art at Dresdner Kunstakademie beginning in 1889.
In 1903 he met best-selling author Karl May, and he became the cover illustrator of May's
books (for example Winnetou, Old Surehand, Am Rio de la Plata).
When the First World War started, Schneider took up residence in Hellerau (near Leipzig).
After 1918, he co-founded an institute called Kraft-Kunst for body building.
Some of the models for his art works trained here.
Schneider, who suffered from diabetes mellitus, collapsed and died in 1927 in Swinemünde.
He was buried in the cemetery in Loschwitz, Germany.
'DAS GEFÜL DER ABHÄNGIGKEIT'
(THE FEELING OF DEPENDANCE) - 1920
Sascha Schneider - (1870 - 1927)
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Haus der deutschen Kunst - (House of German Art)
Paul Ludwig Troost
The building was constructed from 1934 to 1937 following plans of architect Paul Ludwig
Troost as the Third Reich's first monumental structure of Nazi architecture and as Nazi
propaganda.
The museum, then called Haus der deutschen Kunst ("House of German Art"), was opened
in March 1937 as a showcase for what the Third Reich regarded as Germany's finest art.
The inaugural exhibition was the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung ("Great German art
exhibition"), which was intended as an edifying contrast to the condemned modern art on
display in the concurrent Entartete Kunst exhibition.
On 15 and 16 October 1939, the Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung inside the Haus der
Deutschen Kunst was complemented by the monumental Tag der deutschen Kunst
celebration of "2,000 years of Germanic culture" where luxuriously and pretentiously
draped floats (one of them carrying a 5 meter tall golden Nazi Reichsadler) and thousands
of actors in historical costumes paraded down Prinzregentenstraße for hours in the presence
of Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring, Joseph Goebbels, Heinrich Himmler, Albert Speer,
Robert Ley, Reinhard Heydrich, and many other high-ranking Nazis, with minor events
taking place in the Englischer Garten nearby.
Haus der deutschen Kunst - (House of German Art) - detail
Paul Ludwig Troost
VOLKSHALLE - GERMANIA
Albert Speer
Welthauptstadt ("World Capital") Germania was the name Adolf Hitler gave to the
projected renewal of the German capital Berlin, part of his vision for the future of
Germany after the planned victory in World War II.
Albert Speer, "the first architect of the Third Reich", produced many of the plans for the
rebuilt city, only a small portion of which was realized before World War II.
The title "Welthauptstadt" was chosen because it was felt that Berlin's architecture was at
that time too provincial and that there was need to put Berlin on a par with and exceed the
quality of other world capitals such as London, Paris and especially Rome.
Some projects, such as the creation of a great East-West city axis, which included
broadening Charlottenburger Chaussee (today Straße des 17. Juni) and placing the Berlin
victory column in the center, far away from the Reichstag, where it originally stood,
succeeded. Others, however, such as the creation of the Große Halle (Volkshalle), had to
be shelved owing to the beginning of war.
A great number of the old buildings in many of the planned construction areas were
however demolished before the war and eventually defeat stopped the plans.
Speer planned the Volkshalle (people's hall) as the centrepiece of the new Berlin.
It was an enormous domed building designed by Hitler himself.
It would still remain the largest enclosed space in the world had it been built.
Although war came before work could begin, all the necessary land was acquired, and the
engineering plans were worked out.
The building would have been over 200 metres high and 250 metres in diameter, sixteen
times larger than the dome of St. Peter's.
MAIN AXIS WITH TRIUMPHAL ARCH & VOLKSHALLE
Albert Speer
At the northern end of the avenue on the site of the Königsplatz there was to be a large
open forum known as Großer Platz with an area of around 350,000 square metres.
This square was to be surrounded by the grandest buildings of all, with the Führer's
palace on the west side on the site of the former Kroll Opera House, the 1894 Reichstag
Building on the east side and the third Reich Chancellery and high command of the
German Army on the south side (on either side of the square's entrance from the Avenue of
Victory).
On the north side of the plaza, straddling the River Spree, Speer planned to build the
centrepiece of the new Berlin, an enormous domed building, the Volkshalle (people's hall),
designed by Hitler himself.
It would still remain the largest enclosed space in the world had it been built.
Towards the southern end of the avenue would be a triumphal arch based on the Arc de
Triomphe in Paris, but again, much larger; it would be almost a hundred metres high, and
the Arc de Triomphe would have been able to fit inside its opening.
The outbreak of World War II in 1939 caused the decision to postpone construction until
after the war to save strategic materials.
VOLKSHALLE - GERMANIA
Albert Speer
DECORATIONS IN BERLIN
Albert Speer
FINE ART
'ERBHOFBAUER'
(Farmstead Peasant)
Leopold Schmutzler - 'Working Maidens'
'DIE RAST DER DIANA' - (DIANA'S REST) - 1940
Ivo Saliger - 1894 - 1987
Ivo Saliger was known both for his original etchings and paintings.
He moved to Vienna in 1908 and studied painting and etching techniques at the Academy
of Vienna, under some of Austria’s finest artists such as Rudolf Jettmar, Ludwig Michalek
and Ferdinand Schmutzer.
Saliger completed his studies at the Academie Moderne, in Paris.
He returned to Vienna in 1920 to assume the post of professor of art at the Academy.
During the 1920’s and 1930’s, Ivo Saliger developed strong Art Deco elements within his
art.
When German soldiers marched into Austria, Saliger, like so many other artists, began to
paint images in support of the Third Reich.
His paintings were frequently exhibited at the ‘Great German Art Exhibition’ held annually
in Munich between 1937 and 1944.
After the end of the Second World War in 1945, Saliger continued to paint until his death in
1987.
'EINKLANG' - (HARMONY) - 1941
Ivo Saliger - 1894 - 1987
Sepp Hilz
'9th NOVEMBER 1923'
Arno Breker im Atelier
Arno Breker im Atelier
'APOLLO DAPHNE'
Arno Breker
'ME & YOU'
Arno Breker
'RICHARD WAGNER'
Arno Breker
'DYING WARRIOR'
Arno Breker
'VICTORIOUS WARRIOR'
Arno Breker
'WARRIOR WITH A SNAKE'
Arno Breker
'COMRADESHIP'
Arno Breker
'ST SEBASTIAN'
Arno Breker
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