Felix Muche-Ramholz

Felix Muche-Ramholz (born June 16, 1868 in Querfurt , † March 2, 1947 in Ramholz) was a German painter.

Life

Felix Muche-Ramholz, also known as Felix Ramholz, was his real name Felix Muche. After schooling ("elementary school") in Querfurt, he acquired knowledge in administration and accounting as well as in agriculture by working for various estate administrations and authorities. In 1901 he took over the rent master's position on the Ramholz estate (now part of Vollmerz ) near Schlüchtern , which was owned by the von Stumm family. He held this position until his retirement. Of his four children, the son and later Bauhaus artist Georg Muche was distinguished by his early interest in painting and painterly work. Possibly stimulated by the activities and successes of his son, Felix Muche resumed his early interest in painting, which was suppressed by his parents at the time, and began to paint his own pictures. Felix Muche also supported his son Georg Muche with the acquisition of works by contemporary artists, so that a collection with works of classical modernism was created in Ramholz; here the names Picasso , Kandinsky , Marc , Feininger , Chagall , Klee stand out.

Works

The first unequivocally datable painting by Felix Muche was made in 1924, is entitled "The Sunday Painter" and shows him himself with an easel on a meadow in Ramholz. It is still signed with "Felix M." Felix Muche later signed his pictures with "Felix Muche-Ramholz" or "Felix Ramholz". Under these two names he became known as a naive painter . From working in a more conventional form of naive painting , Felix Muche quickly developed, especially in his portrayal of people, into his own, often enigmatic, ironic style, to which the usual characterization as naive no longer fits perfectly. This style garnered him the attention of art historians and collectors. About 65 paintings by him are known, some of which are in public galleries ( Vonderau Museum Fulda, Museum der Stadt Schlüchtern ) and some are privately owned.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions: 1966 in Fulda Castle , 1993 in the gallery of Sparkasse Schlüchtern , 1993 in the Vonderau Museum Fulda. Selection of larger exhibitions in which pictures by Muche-Ramholz were represented: 1959 Darmstadt Mathildenhöhe : "Free time for freedom"; 1964 Salzburg, Residenzgalerie; 1964 Oldenburg, Art Association; 1981 Böblingen: "German Sunday Painters - French Naive"; 1983 Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art: "Naive and Outsider Paintings from Germany"; 1991 Bath, Museum of Naive Art: "20th Century German Naive Paintings".

literature

• Ludwig Steinfeld, Felix Ramholz: The Sunday painter Felix Muche-Ramholz , Ernst Wasmuth Verlag Tübingen / Berlin 1993, ISBN 3803030587 .
• Gottfried Sello, Felix Ramholz in the series Große Maler , Brigitte magazine , 1974.