Albert Weisgerber

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Albert Weisgerber (photo around 1910)

Albert Weisgerber (born April 21, 1878 in St. Ingbert , † May 10, 1915 died at Fromelles in French Flanders ) was a German painter and graphic artist .

Weisgerber left behind an extensive body of work that was initially forgotten after his early death. Weisgerber's style can be classified between German Impressionism and early Expressionism .

life and work

Weisgerber's birthplace in St. Ingbert
Hans Purrmann, Albert Weisgerber, Henri Matisse in Munich (photo, 1910)
Wife Margarete b. Pohl (painting by A. Weisgerber, around 1910)

Weisgerber was born as the son of a St. Ingbert baker and innkeeper. After successfully completing the Kreisbaugewerkschule in Kaiserslautern from 1891 to 1894 , he began an apprenticeship as a decorative painter in Frankfurt am Main in 1894 . From 1894 to 1897 he attended the arts and crafts school in Munich , then he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich from 1897 to 1901 , first with Gabriel Hackl and later with Franz von Stuck , whose master class he became. From 1897 he worked as a draftsman for the magazine Die Jugend , which he kept as a livelihood until 1913. During his studies Weisgerber got to know Hans Purrmann , Paul Klee , Wassily Kandinsky , Willi Geiger , Hermann Haller , Max Slevogt , Gino von Finetti and Fritz Burger-Mühlfeld , with whom he had a lifelong friendship. In 1898 he and friends founded the Sturmfackel association , to which the artists Alfred Kubin , Rudolf Levy and Alfred Lörcher belonged. In 1901 and 1902 he illustrated two volumes for Gerlach's youth library in Vienna ( Till Eulenspiegel and Grimms Märchen ). He also drew for Albert Langen's Simplicissimus .

In 1902 he did his military service in Munich. In the following year Weisgerber stayed frequently in St. Ingbert, where he created a series of beer garden pictures in which he dealt with the French Impressionists. On trips to Paris , among others , he saw works by the Impressionists and other important artists and met Henri Matisse , among others . There he received impulses from Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec , Paul Cézanne , Édouard Manet and El Greco , which was clearly noticeable in his painting style. In addition to café and vaudeville pictures , the artist worked on a number of portraits as commissioned work.

In 1904 he met the Jewish banker's daughter and painter Margarete Pohl in the Munich café scene, whom he married in 1907; in the same year he succeeded Angelo Jank as a drawing teacher at the Munich Women's Academy . In the following years, he made the acquaintance of well-known artists, writers, publicists and social critics such as Erich Mühsam , Joachim Ringelnatz , Ludwig Scharf , Wilhelm Hausenstein and Theodor Heuss , some of whom he portrayed. His most important portraits were those of Scharf and Heuss. After Weisgerber's early death in World War I, Hausenstein wrote his biography in 1918.

In 1906, Weisgerber acquired international recognition from the Munich Pinakothek ( Neue Pinakothek ) and the Frankfurt Municipal Gallery . During a trip to Florence (1909), on which Finetti accompanied him, he came into contact with the Italian Quattrocentists and began a new beginning in his previous art. It was from these impressions that his first pictures from the Sebastian cycle were created. In the following years Weisgerber turned to more and more religious topics, such as Absalom , Jeremias , David and Goliath .

In 1911 he took part in exhibitions in Munich and Dresden for the first time. In the same year one of his most famous works was created, the painting Im Münchener Hofgarten . A year later he had exhibitions at the Cassirer Gallery (Berlin), the Sonderbund exhibition (Cologne) and at the Kunsthaus Zürich. In 1913 Weisgerber founded the Munich New Secession Artists' Association together with Alexej von Jawlensky , Adolf Erbslöh , Paul Klee, Alexander Kanoldt and others , of which he became the first president. The artist was able to experience the first exhibition at the Secession in autumn 1914 six months before his death.

Albert Weisgerber fell on May 10, 1915 as a lieutenant and company commander of the Royal Bavarian Reserve Infantry Regiment 16 west of Lille . In June of the same year his body was transferred to Munich and buried in the Munich North Cemetery. Private Adolf Hitler served in the same regiment .

estate

Like many other modern German artists, Weisgerber's pictures were classified by the National Socialists as “ degenerate art ” and confiscated. However, they were not destroyed, but sold in auctions. St. Ingbert's mayor at the time, Norbert Schier, was able to acquire an extensive bundle of Weisgerber works (oil paintings, graphics, documents) and incorporate them into the municipal art collection. After the end of the war, claims for restitution were made by the white tanner widow Grete Weisgerber-Collin in this connection, which resulted in a lawsuit. The widow relied on the spoliation laws of the western allies; these canceled contracts of sale for property that had been confiscated by the Reich. In 1951, both parties reached a settlement in which the widow's rights were recognized by the city of St. Ingbert and she was paid compensation of 5 million francs (around 30,000 euros based on today's purchasing power).

Over the years, Weisgerber acquired more oil paintings, graphics and handicrafts. They formed a dense, representative cross-section through the artist's work. After the establishment of the " Albert Weisgerber Foundation ", the city of St. Ingbert transferred the entire Weisgerber fund to it, which was then used to compile a permanent Albert Weisgerber exhibition in the newly created " Museum St. Ingbert ", which could be seen until July 2007 .

The museum was supported by the Albert Weisgerber Foundation, established in 1992 and supported by the city of St. Ingbert and the Saarpfalz district ; in the meantime, the Saarpfalz district has left the foundation as the sponsor. The museum was dissolved at the suggestion of the top administration with a resolution of the city council in July 2007, the building ( former district office ) fell back to the owner, the Saarpfalz district. The administration and city council intend to build a new museum in the building of the former “ cotton mill ”. The new museum was supposed to go into operation at the end of 2012, but it could not be kept. The opening of the Albert Weisgerber Museum in the old cotton spinning mill in St. Ingbert is planned for the end of 2019.

The work Absalom (1914) is owned by the Hamburger Kunsthalle . Another version of this picture belongs to the Saarland Museum (Saarbrücken). He also owns the works Reit im Englischer Garten (1910) and Strand auf Norderney (1910).

  • Self-portrait , 1908

  • Latest from the Serenissimus , 1908

  • Horseback riding in the English Garden , 1910

  • Procession in St. Ingbert , 1907

  • Absalom , 1912

  • Self-portrait at the Attersee , 1911

  • Last self-portrait , 1914

The city of St. Ingbert has been awarding one of the oldest and most prestigious art prizes in Saarland, the Albert Weisgerber Prize for Fine Arts , since 1958 . It is awarded as a recognition prize for an artist's oeuvre every three years and is currently endowed with a total of 21,000 euros. According to the statutes, the award winners should be related to the Saarland. The National Socialists had already donated an Albert Weisgerber Art Prize , which was immediately renamed the Westmark Prize in 1936 after the discovery that his widow was Jewish and lived in exile in London . In 1936, the prize was awarded to Albert Haueisen under the old name .

One of the most profound connoisseurs and supporters of Weisgerber's oeuvre was the art historian, professor and director of the Middle Rhine State Museum in Mainz, Wilhelm Weber . Weber published numerous works on the artist's work and carried out a number of Weisgerber's exhibitions in established houses, which were received with recognition by experts. B. in the Villa Stuck in Munich.

For the 100th anniversary of Weisgerber's death, exhibitions were held in Saarbrücken (Saarland Museum) and St. Ingbert (Sinn building).

literature

This article or section needs to be revised: The literature section is not intended to be a bibliography for the lemma. This one is much too long and should be thinned out / shortened according to the specifications of WP: LIT.
Please help to improve it , and then remove this flag.

  • Georg Jakob Wolf: Weisgerber exhibition at Brakl. In: Art for All . Volume 26, October 1911, p. 99 ff.
  • Georg Jakob Wolf: The Munich Secession on the XI. international art exhibition in the Munich Glass Palace. In: Art for All. Vol. 29, 1914, p. 49 ff.
  • Theodor Heuss: Albert Weisgerber. In March; Born in 1915 (Issue 21 of May 29, 1915)
  • Walter Riezler: Albert Weisgerber. In: German art and decoration. Vol. 36, 1915, p. 3 ff.
  • Hermann Uhde-Bernays : Albert Weisgerber. In: Art and Artists. Volume 14, 1916.
  • Georg Jakob Wolf: Albert Weisgerber. In: Art for All. Vol. 30, 1915, p. 360 ff.
  • Georg Jakob Wolf: Weisgerber Memorial Exhibition. In: The Cicerone. Issue 11/12, 1916, p. 237 ff.
  • Weisgerber - paintings, graphics. [Exhibition March 4 - April 15, 1917]. (= Special exhibitions of the Kestner Society. 5). Kestner Society eV, Hanover 1917.
  • Wilhelm Hausenstein : Albert Weisgerber. A memorial book. Munich New Secession. Piper, Munich, ed. 1918, DNB 361471084 .
  • Friedrich Ahlers-Hestermann: The German circle of artists of the Café du Dôme in Paris. In: Art and Artists. Issue 10, 1918, p. 369 ff.
  • Albert Weisgerber. Memorial exhibition on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the anniversary of his death, May-June 1925, Moderne Galerie. Preface by Wilhelm Hausenstein. Thannhauser, Munich 1925, DNB 578280752 .
  • Albert Weisgerber 1878–1915. Memorial Exhibition June 15th-25th July 1926. Escort: Hermann Graf. Palatinate Art Association, Speyer 1926, DNB 578280760 .
  • Wolfgang Krämer: Albert Weisgerber - a memorial for his 50th birthday. Self-published, Homburg 1928.
  • Fridolin Solleder: The trench warfare at Fromelles. In: Four years of the Western Front history of the "List Regiment". Munich 1932, p. 154 ff.
  • Theodor Heuss : Albert Weisgerber on his 60th birthday. In: Frankfurter Zeitung . April 21, 1938.
  • Kurt Pfister: For Albert Weisgerber's 65th birthday. In: The Westmark. Issue 8, 1943, p. 172 ff.
  • Kurt Friedrich Ertel: That was ostracized art: Albert Weisgerber. In: sowing. Vol. 2, 1947, p. 60 ff.
  • Memorial exhibition from March 18 to April 9, 1950: Albert Weisgerber, Otto Weil, Richard Wenzel, Heinrich von Rüden. Saarland Museum , Saarbrücken 1950.
  • Ulrich Christoffel: Albert Weisgerber. Ed .: City administration St. Ingbert. Selection of pictures by FJ Kohl-Weigand. St. Ingbert 1950.
  • Albert Weisgerber memorial exhibition. Municipal Gallery, Munich 1953.
  • Albert Weisgerber: words of his friends. Introduction by Franz-Josef Kohl-Weigand . City of St. Ingbert, 1955.
  • Erich Bourfeind: The painter Albert Weisgerber. In: Merian (travel magazine) . Vol. 10, Issue 5, 1957, pp. 45 ff.
  • Hans Brandenburg: Albert Weisgerber. Portrait of a Munich painter. In: Unknown Bavaria. Volume 3. Munich, 1957, p. 224 ff.
  • (o. Responsibility) Weisgerber and Finetti. In: W. Steigelmann (Ed.): Heinrich von Zügel and the Wörther School of Painting. Kaußler, Landau o. J. [1957], pp. 41-43.
  • Hans von Hayek : Albert Weisgerber's funeral near Fournès . ibid., pp. 43-45.
  • Albert Weisgerber, drawings. For the painter's 80th birthday. (= Series of publications of the Saarland Homeland and Culture Association. 2). Ed. Saarl. Heimat- und Kulturbund. Arr .: Wilhelm Weber. The center, Saarbrücken 1958.
  • Wilhelm Weber : Albert Weisgerber and Munich. For the 80th birthday of the great Palatinate painter. In: Voice of the Palatinate. Issue 3–5, 1958, p. 16 ff.
  • Albert Haberer : The design of the religious theme in Weisgerber's work. State examination thesis. Art History Institute of the University, Saarbrücken 1959.
  • Albert Weisgerber 1878–1915. Hand drawings and watercolors. From the Franz-Josef Kohl-Weigand collection, St. Ingbert. Mainz 1961.
  • Mathias Schrecklinger: A painter between tradition and revolution: Albert Weisgerber. In: Saarbrücker Hefte. Issue 13, 1961, p. 37 ff.
  • Wilhelm Weber (Ed.): Albert Weisgerber. Paintings, drawings, graphics. Memorial exhibition in Heidelberg Castle from May 12 to October 15, 1962, Kurpfälzisches Museum . Impuls Verlag Heinz Moos, Heidelberg 1962. (With catalog raisonné)
  • Wilhelm Weber: Albert Weisgerbers religious representations. In: The tower cock. Issue 5/6, 1962.
  • Wilhelm Weber (Ed.): Albert Weisgerber 1878–1915 on the 50th anniversary of his death. City of St. Ingbert, 1965.
  • Maria Ziegler: Memories of Albert Weisgerber. In: The new Mainz. Issue 5, 1965, p. 13 ff.
  • Walter Schmeer: Weisgerber and his friends. In: Saarheimat. Issue 3, 1969, p. 241 ff.
  • Wilhelm Weber: Albert Weisgerber's Munich years. In: Voice of the Palatinate. Volume 3, 1970, p. 6 ff.
  • Albert Weisgerber draws for “Die Jugend”. (= The new art archive. Volume 28). Ed .: Palatinate Artists' Cooperative. With contribution from Karl Graf u. Franz-Josef Kohl-Weigand. Karl Graf, Speyer 1971.
  • From the Kohl-Weigand collection: Slevogt - Weisgerber - Purrmann. Saarland Museum, Saarbrücken 1971.
  • Weisgerber, Albert: Munich humor. 100 drawings and jokes. Kaut-Bullinger , Munich 1973.
  • Albert Weisgerber 1878–1915. Paintings - drawings - illustrations - caricatures. Exhibition catalog. Villa Stuck, Munich 1975.
  • Georg Piltz: Albert Weisgerber. Eulenspiegel, Berlin 1976.
  • Kohl-Weigand Collection: Max Slevogt , Albert Weisgerber , Hans Purrmann . Drawings, watercolors, draft images. Exhibition on occasion d. 50th anniversary in the Mayor Ludwig Reichert House [22. October - November 30, 1978]. Arranged: Wilhelm Eisenbarth. Kunstverein Ludwigshafen, OCLC 313279240 .
  • Saskia Ishikawa-Franke: Albert Weisgerber. Life and work, paintings. (= Publications by the Institute for Regional Studies. 26). Dissertation. Saarbrücken 1978, ISBN 3-923877-26-9 .
  • Albert Weisgerber 1878–1915. Exhibition from January 20 to February 25, 1979. Ed .: Wilhelm Weber. Middle Rhine State Museum, Mainz 1979.
  • Wilhelm Weber: Self-portraits, family, friends. Albert Weisgerber (1878–1915) on the 70th anniversary of his death. Accompanying volume to exhibitions in the Kulturhaus St. Ingbert and in the Rudolf-Scharpf-Galerie of the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen. St. Ingbert Cultural Office, 1985.
  • Albert Weisgerber. Slide series. Ed .: State Institute for Education and Media (LPM) in cooperation with the cultural office of the city of St. Ingbert. Text: Albert Haberer, Photos: Karin Heinzel. St. Ingbert: Self-published by the Kulturamt, 1992, ISBN 3-928189-09-3 .
  • Albert Weisgerber. Catalog for the exhibition in the Historisches Museum der Pfalz, Speyer. Ed .: Meinrad Maria Grewenig. With contributions from Ernst-Gerhard Güse a. Beate Reifenscheid. Hatje, Stuttgart 1995.
  • Albert Weisgerber 1878–1915 - Farewell to the studio too early. Arranged: Beate Reifenscheid u. Markus Wimmer. [Exhibition cat. the cathol. Academy in Bavaria]. Self-published by the Academy, Munich 1995.
  • The Kohl-Weigand Collection from the Saarland Museum Saarbrücken. Catalog for the exhibition in the Museum Sankt Ingbert. Foreword by Ernst-Gerhard Güse. With contributions from Berthold Schmitt u. Ernest W. Uthemann. St. Ingbert Museum, 1998.
  • Gebhard Neumüller (ed.): Albert Weisgerber: life, death. For the 175th anniversary of the city of St. Ingbert. With illustration by the artist. Evang. Church of the Palatinate, Office for Religious Education, Sankt Ingbert 2004, ISBN 3-00-014108-1 .
  • Gerhard Sauder (Ed.): "I paint like a savage ..." Albert Weisgerber in letters and documents. Gollenstein, Blieskastel 2006, ISBN 3-938823-05-4 .
  • Bernd Apke: Looks like arrows. Albert Weisgerber: Self-portraits and depictions of Sebastian. Dissertation. Reimer, Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-496-01361-3 .
  • Gerhard Sauder: Restitution issues, using the example of the Albert Weisgerber collection in the city of St. Ingbert. In: Law and its foundations. Festschrift for Elmar Wadle on his 70th birthday. (= Writings on legal history. 139). Duncker & Humblot , Berlin 2008, pp. 987-1004.
  • Author: Weisgerber Museum stops in Berlin. Exhibition in the European art forum in the capital. In: Saarbrücker Zeitung. (St. Ingbert edition), March 26, 2009, p. C4.
  • Thomas Weber : Hitler's First War: Adolf Hitler, the Men of the List Regiment, and the First World War. 1st edition. Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-923320-5 .
  • Paul Burgard: Tell me where the flowers are. Albert Weisgerber. In: Saar stories. Issue 2, 2014, pp. 4–11 ISSN  1866-573X
  • Friederike Weimar: Folded Dreams: Works by Young Artists - Victims of the First World War. Benno Berneis, Hans Fuglsang, Franz Henseler, Wilhelm Morgner, Franz Nölken, Otto Soltau, Hermann Stenner and Albert Weisgerber. Edited by Helga Gutbrod. Gebr. Mann Verlag / Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-3-7861-2712-3 .
  • Gerhard Sauder (Ed.): Hommage à Weisgerber. In texts by Klaus Stief, Alfred Gulden and Günter Metken. (= Edition St. Ingberter Geschichte. 2). Dengmerter Heimatverlag, St. Ingbert 2015, ISBN 978-3-929576-18-4 .

Web links

Commons : Albert Weisgerber  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ HEAD MUNTER: Weisgerber, Albert. June 20, 2019, accessed June 21, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Gerhard Sauder, Restitution Issues, Berlin 2008.
  3. ^ Progress in the culture factory In: Saarbrücker Zeitung . March 25, 2018.
  4. ^ Association of Palatinate Artists: Anniversary Exhibition 1922–1987, Kaiserslautern 1987, pp. 15, 16.
  5. ^ Eva Habermehl: Albert Haueisen: (1872-1954); a south German painter and graphic artist; Studies of the work and catalog raisonné of the paintings . Manutius-Verlag, Heidelberg 1998, ISBN 3-925678-76-X , note 588-590, p. 134.
personal data
SURNAME Weisgerber, Albert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH St. Ingbert
DATE OF DEATH May 10, 1915
Place of death Fromelles, Belgium