Adolf Jöhnssen

Adolf Jöhnssen (born September 25, 1871 in Rostock , † January 3, 1950 in Nuremberg ) was a German painter, illustrator, lithographer and musician ( lutenist ).

Life

Adolf Jöhnssen learned the profession of lithographer during a six-year apprenticeship at the Tiedemann lithographic institute in Rostock . During this time he was already working for the director of the Schwerin Museum Friedrich Schlie in the creation of drawings for his works The Art and History Monuments of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin . At the age of 24 he was able to attend the Nuremberg School of Applied Arts as a student with the help of Rostock scholarships . At the end of his studies he was a master class student at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich with Karl Raupp from 1897–1899 .

After completing his studies, he returned to Nuremberg, where he was employed by Ernst Nister's Art Institute for graphic reproductions as a draftsman of graphic designs. From 1907/08 he worked as a freelance illustrator. His main work at this time consisted in the design of posters, theater slips and postcards, but also in book decorations for children's books and novels, to a large extent on behalf of the Nister Art Institute. Many of the illustrations were created on the initiative of his Rostock friend Wilhelm Schmidt , a Low German writer and John Brinckman researcher.

During this time he became active as a painter parallel to his graphic work, preferring watercolors with landscape motifs and architectural depictions. With increasing age and deteriorating eyesight, he only dealt with painting. He now used suggestions from the Nuremberg area and from the annual visits to the Baltic Sea as motifs.

Another talent Jöhnssen showed in the Nuremberg art life, at meetings of the Nuremberg Artists' Association he appeared as a lute player and interpreted Upper Bavarian and Low German songs.

Quote

“There's no need to write about the book decorations that our compatriot Adolf Jöhnssen drew. The careful, genuinely native pictures speak for themselves. The warm conception of the plot, but above all that of our folk characters and the sure feeling for the characteristic beauties of our homeland will not only appeal to those who emphatically call for the fresh, good smell of the home clod in this area as well. Even the golden humor that is evident in some places will arouse the wish in many that others will soon want to follow this first gift of native images. "

- Wilhelm Schmidt

Works (selection)

illustrator

Ludwig Kreutzer : Ten Mecklenburg Folk Tales (1904),
John Brinckman : Kasper-Ohm un ick (1905),
Martin Boelitz : Nice old children's songs (1909),
Johannes Gosselck and Gustav Metelmann: Primer (1910),
John Brinckman: All Kinds of Foolish Stories ut Mine Schooltid (1912),
Otto Weltzien: Brinckman book (1914);
Laugh, my child, laugh. A funny book . (Picture book), verses by Adolf Holst (1912)
This is how it works in Schnützelputzhäusel. A funny book . (Picture book), verses by Adolf Holst (1927)

painter

Portrait of John Brinckman (oil painting - 1910)
Evening hour in a main town
Sulzfeld (watercolor)
Franconian village (drawing)
Eschenbach (drawing)
Board from Dinkelsbühl (watercolor)
Erlangen, lock on the Ludwig Canal
Dune landscape from Darss (watercolor)
Motif from Parkentin
Mecklenburg landscape near Althof
City view with church view (Rostock - Altstädter Born) (pastel)

literature

Jöhnssen, Adolf . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 19 : Ingouville – Kauffungen . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1926, p. 36 .
Jöhnssen, Adolf . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 5, Saur, Munich a. a. 1992, ISBN 3-598-22745-0 , p. 315.
Grete Grewolls: Who was who in Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania. The dictionary of persons . Hinstorff Verlag, Rostock 2011, ISBN 978-3-356-01301-6 , p. 4649 .
Manfred H. Grieb: Nürnberger Künstlerlexikon: Visual artists, artisans, scholars, collectors, cultural workers and patrons from the 12th to the middle of the 20th century . tape 2 . Saur, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-598-11763-3 , pp. 734 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
Wilhelm Schmidt: Adolf Jöhnssen, a painter from home . In: Mecklenburgische Monatshefte . tape 3 . Schwerin 1927, p. 61-66 ( lbmv.de [PDF]).

Web links

Literature by and about Adolf Jöhnssen in the catalog of the German National Library
Literature about Adolf Jöhnssen in the state bibliography MV
Margarete Block-Jakobs: Portrait of John Brinckman as a new permanent loan in the museum. (PDF) In: Güstrower Stadtanzeiger. May 1, 2007, accessed on September 22, 2015 (digitized version - PDF).

Individual evidence

^ Enrollment of Adolf Jöhnssen, register book 1896. Academy of Fine Arts Munich, accessed on September 22, 2015 .
^ Adolf Jöhnssen in the Bavarian Musicians' Lexicon Online (BMLO)
^ Ludwig Kreutzer: Ten Mecklenburg folk tales . Carl Boldt'sche Hofbuchdruckerei, Rostock 1904, (from the foreword by Wilhelm Schmidt).
↑ Gerd Richardt : John Brinckman - short vita. Internet presence of the Brinckmansdorf district of the Hanseatic City of Rostock, accessed on September 22, 2015 (six images from Kaspar-Ohm un ick ).

personal data
SURNAME	Jöhnssen, Adolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German painter, illustrator, lithographer and musician
DATE OF BIRTH	September 25, 1871
PLACE OF BIRTH	Rostock
DATE OF DEATH	January 3, 1950
Place of death	Nuremberg

[1] Enrollment of Adolf Jöhnssen, register book 1896. Academy of Fine Arts Munich, accessed on September 22, 2015 .

[2] Adolf Jöhnssen in the Bavarian Musicians' Lexicon Online (BMLO)

[3] Ludwig Kreutzer: Ten Mecklenburg folk tales . Carl Boldt'sche Hofbuchdruckerei, Rostock 1904, (from the foreword by Wilhelm Schmidt).

[4] Gerd Richardt : John Brinckman - short vita. Internet presence of the Brinckmansdorf district of the Hanseatic City of Rostock, accessed on September 22, 2015 (six images from Kaspar-Ohm un ick ).