Alexander Kircher

Alexander Kircher in the studio, around 1935

Alexander Kircher (born February 26, 1867 in Trieste , † September 16, 1939 in Berlin ) was a German - Austrian marine and landscape painter and illustrator .

150 years circumnavigation of Novara , postage stamp for the festival of the Kuffner Observatory Vienna (2009) based on a church painting (1909)

life and work

As a boy, Kircher showed great interest in shipbuilding and therefore decided to pursue a career as a naval officer in the Imperial Navy . Due to a foot injury, however, this wish could not be realized and so he decided to study painting at the Berlin Academy (from 1888), where he turned to maritime subjects from the start . His teachers were Hans Fredrik Gude and Hermann Eschke .

Kircher went on extensive study trips throughout Europe, Asia and North America, during which a number of important paintings, drawings and illustrations were created. - In 1893 he worked on the picturesque decoration of buildings at the world exhibition in Chicago as well as on panoramas and dioramas by the marine painter Hans von Petersen . Alexander Kircher also worked as an illustrator for well-known German and foreign magazines, such as the Leipziger Illustrierte Zeitung or the illustrated weekly Reclams Universum (Leipzig), the writings of the Austrian (Vienna) and German Flottenvereines (Berlin) and the Viennese publishing house Jaques Philipp vorm . Philipp & Kramer, for whom he created the postcard series “ Dalmatia and Istria ” , a. a. with images of the ships of the Adria shipping company based in Fiume . Also to be mentioned are field post cards and picture postcards that Kircher created for the Austrian Red Cross , the War Welfare Office and the War Aid Office. In addition, postcards were produced for the well-known Viennese artist postcard publisher BKWI, the publisher M. Munk in Vienna, the publisher von Kleinmayr & Bamberg in Laibach for the Universal Postal Union , as well as the art publisher Theodor Stroefer in its TSN series and the publisher “Erste Uhrenfabrik, Hanns Konrad “, Kuk purveyor to the court in Brüx . - The artist postcards category also includes works that Kircher carried out for the London postcard publisher Raphael Tuck & Sons in connection with its successful art postcard series called "Oilette" and for the publishers Max Ettlinger & Co (The Royal Series) and Misch & Co., both in London . Our Marine postcards are assigned such that the Admiralty in Berlin in a series under the name: "The European war 1914/17" were published and such. Some also show Kircher pictures. The same postcard World War 1 series showing various Kircher pictures was published by the well-known Dresden Photochromie Druckhaus and publishing house Nenke & Ostermaier. - It is also worth mentioning that there are painting replications of individual church images , some of which can be found in museums.

Sometimes Kircher took up some of his views that were certainly popular topics in very similar pictures, for example the portrait of the frigate Radetzky. The painting achieved a certain broad impact because it was shown on a postcard from the Austrian Fleet Association. A very similar picture, showing the frigate from a different angle, is privately owned. Another example is the subject of a sailing fishing trawler with the number 575 depicted on the main sail. At least 4 different paintings are known for this, two only show the cutter and the coastal landscape, two further pictures are joined by 2 or 3 women standing and acting on the bank. This last-named series was probably created in the last phase of his life from 1930. Between 1895 and 1900 he taught as a professor at the Art Academy in Trieste and married Romana Salmassi on October 15, 1898. From this union three sons and three daughters were born. In 1904 Kircher moved from Trieste to Dresden, where he lived according to the address book from 1904 (p. 395) and 1905 (p. 410) and where he joined the local art cooperative as a freelance artist. Furthermore, there is a correspondence from this period between Kircher and the Austrian-German painter, restorer and photographer Ermenegildo Antonio Donadini, who lives in Dresden . - In 1906 the family moved to Moritzburg . - According to the address book 1922/23 as well as 1931, Kircher then lived in Niederlößnitz in the now listed Villa Jagdweg 6 , according to the address book from 1933 to around 1935 he lived in Kötzschenbroda- Niederlößnitz in Villa Zillerstraße 5 . - Alexander Kircher's wife died in June 1935. According to the address book, the painter then moved to Klotzsche in 1939 at Ludwig-Jahn-Strasse 3 in a residential building that belonged to the former Klotzsche Air War School .

Influential patrons from the nobility and large-scale industry - in particular from maritime shipping - promoted the artist. At the top were Emperor Franz Joseph I and Emperor Wilhelm II , on whose behalf he painted numerous naval and naval pictures of the Austro-Hungarian Navy and German navy . From this creative period there are several paintings in the Army History Museum in Vienna, including the monumental painting of the sea ​​battle at Lissa , which deserves special mention. An almost equally large exhibit from the Isonzo passenger ship hangs in an exposed position in the Technical Museum in Vienna . - There is also an important collection of 19 paintings from this period as a permanent exhibition at Artstetten Castle in Lower Austria and there in the naval room of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand Museum. The same, but with 32 works even more extensive collection of Kircher paintings is in Croatia , in the Maritime Museum of Split . There are also two paintings from this period, which are on the premises of the Vienna Navy Association, in the house of the former Austrian Naval Association. The battleship SMS Viribus Unitis forms the focus of both images . - In addition, the Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication MSPT ( Museum for Communication ) in Frankfurt am Main has 8 Kircher exhibits in its art collection; see ref. Hans-F. Schweers: Paintings in German museums.

In April 1916, Kircher applied for admission to the art group of the kuk war press quarter and thus intended to take part in the First World War as a volunteer war painter . So he wanted to paint a series of pictures on the Isonzo Front , in Trieste and Pola, which were intended for the New Hofburg . However, this request, as well as another one from November 1917, was rejected by the Army High Command .

Family grave of the Kirchers in the Moritzburg cemetery (1995)

In the interwar period, Alexander Kircher captured the reconstruction of the German merchant and navy in several paintings. Paintings by Kircher's hand were to be found in the representation rooms of many passenger ships and warships, which the artist signed in the vast majority of cases with “ALEX.KIRCHER”. In the shipping companies and shipyards, some of his works survived the chaos of war (for example Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen and HAPAG Hamburg). Kircher concluded his life's work with a series of one hundred paintings that depicted the development of German shipping over a millennium and that hung in the Institute and Museum for Oceanography MfM at the University of Berlin. The whereabouts of the works has not yet been clarified, reproductions were published as panels (1934) and in book form (1939). In the meantime, 22 pictures, most of which come from the MfM's collection, have been rediscovered in the archive of the Defense History Training Center of the Mürwik Naval School . Individual pieces can be viewed there in the commander 's villa.

Kircher was buried in the family grave in Moritzburg .

Awards

Alexander Kircher was awarded the Order of Isabellas the Catholic ~ Title: Caballero de la Real Orden de Isabel La Católica ~, an order for services to art and science in Spain. He received it in February 1909 at the Spanish Embassy in Berlin .

Media coverage

On November 18, 2018, an episode of the NDR's Lieb & Teuer program was broadcast, moderated by Janin Ullmann and filmed in Reinbek Castle . In it, an oil painting was discussed with the painting expert Ariane Skora, which shows two Frisians on the beach and a two-master, and was painted by Alexander Kircher around 1930. The same painting was shown in the show Lieb & Teuer: Who offers more ? , moderated by Janin Ullmann and Hubertus Meyer-Burckhardt . on December 29, 2019 with the painting expert Ariane Skora at Rittergut Remeringhausen and also auctioned off in the show.

Works (excerpt)

• The sea battle at Lissa. Oil on canvas, 1918, 318 × 705 cm. Army History Museum, Vienna.
• International fleet demonstration in the Dulcigno / Ulcinj area (South Dalmatia). Oil on canvas, 1880, 82.5 × 131 cm. Army History Museum, Vienna.
• SMS Empress Elisabeth. Oil on canvas, 1895, 189 × 158 cm. Army History Museum, Vienna.
• Aeroplan before departure or take-off of a double-decker . Oil on cardboard, 32 × 48 cm. Army History Museum, Vienna.
• Frigate SMS Novara . Oil on canvas, 118 × 100 cm. Army History Museum, Vienna.
• Battle at Heligoland. Oil on canvas, 68 × 118 cm. Army History Museum, Vienna.
• Passenger ship Isonzo in the Gulf of Trieste . Oil on canvas, 1917, 300 × 690 cm, Inv.-No .: BPA-012797. Technical Museum, Vienna.
• Ships of the Tegetthoff class, in the foreground SMS Viribus Unitis . Oil on canvas, 96 × 150 cm. Austrian Navy Association, Vienna.
• Launched SMS Viribus Unitis. Oil on canvas, 1910, 65 × 94 cm. Austrian Navy Association, Vienna.
• SMS Archduke Karl . Oil on canvas, 50 × 75 cm. Archduke Franz Ferdinand Museum, Artstetten Castle , Lower Austria.
• Torpedo vehicles Wildfang and Ulan. Oil on canvas, 95 × 140 cm. Archduke Franz Ferdinand Museum, Artstetten Castle, Lower Austria.
• Warship Kaiser Karl IV. Oil on canvas, 1895, 88 × 150 cm. Local history museum of the city of Rovinj ( Croatia ).
• Radetzky steam frigate. Oil on canvas, 1898, 86 × 158 cm. Local museum of the town of Rovinj (Croatia).
• Steam yacht Suzume. Oil on canvas, 47 × 66 cm. Local history museum of the city of Rovinj (Croatia).
• The Kolumbo caravels. Oil on canvas, late 19th century, 227 × 387 cm. Red island of St. Andrea under the care of the local museum Rovinj, (Croatia).
• Austro-Hungarian warships. Oil on canvas, late 19th century, 227 × 387 cm. Red island of St. Andrea under the care of the local museum Rovinj, (Croatia).
• Ship of the line USS Kentucky. Oil on cardboard, 1898, 32 × 47.5 cm. Maritime Museum, Split (Croatia).
• Mail steamer Pelikan. Oil on cardboard, 1891, 32 × 48 cm. Maritime Museum, Split (Croatia).
• Steamship Carl Legien. Oil on canvas, ca.1923, 113 × 215 cm. Privately owned by Deutsche Bahn AG .
• The imperial yacht Hohenzollern opens the Kiel Canal. Oil on canvas, 1895, 123 × 198 cm. Stadt- und Schifffahrtsmuseum, Kiel ~ The picture hangs in the old fish hall on the Seegarten bridge.
• SMS Emden (1908) in action. Oil on canvas, around 1910, 101 × 150 cm. Stadtmuseum-Warleberger Hof, Kiel.
• Evening mood in the port of Kiel. Oil on canvas, 1929, 70 × 100 cm. Stadtmuseum-Warleberger Hof, Kiel.
• Cruiser frigates Stosch , Stein and Gneisenau . Oil on canvas, 1938, 70 × 100 cm - as well as 22 paintings from the collection of the MfM destroyed in World War II ; see above, Life and Works , para. 6, end of the text; Naval School Mürwik , Flensburg - Mürwik
• Romantic seascape. The ocean flight. Oil on canvas 1928, 70 × 100 cm. Old Town Hall , Bremen .
• Cable steamer Stephan in front of Yap (Karolinen). Oil on canvas, 1905, 99 × 148 cm. Museum for Communication , formerly Bundespostmuseum, Frankfurt am Main.
• Loading of the mail steamer Bremen. Oil on canvas, 1934, 100 × 149 cm. Museum for Communication, formerly Bundespostmuseum, Frankfurt am Main.
• Port of Hamburg with the post steamer Cap Arcona . Oil on canvas, 1932, 98 × 148 cm. Museum for Communication, formerly Bundespostmuseum, Frankfurt am Main.
• Niederhafen with motor ship Monte Sarmiento in Hamburg. Oil on canvas, 1930, 200 × 336 cm. Museum of Hamburg History , Hamburg .
• Austrian cruiser . Gouache , 45 × 64 cm, International Maritime Museum , Hamburg.
• Franz Ferdinand of Austria at a parade . Gouache, 30 × 43.5 cm, Internationales Maritime Museum, Hamburg.
• The three frigates of the Brandenburg fleet . Oil on canvas, 70 × 100 cm, International Maritime Museum, Hamburg.
• Maneuvers . Mixed media , 48 × 65 cm, International Maritime Museum, Hamburg.
• The small cruiser Dresden in the battle of the Falkland Islands . Oil on canvas, 80 × 110 cm, Belikov's Private Collection, Hamburg.
• NDL steamer Roland passing the Roter Sand lighthouse . Oil on canvas, 156 × 110.5 cm. German Maritime Museum DSM, Bremerhaven .
• Steamer Delos of the German Levante Line . Gouache, 79 × 65 cm. German Maritime Museum DSM, Bremerhaven.
• Port of Hamburg . Oil on canvas, 80 × 110 cm. German Maritime Museum DSM, Bremerhaven.
• Austrian barque in front of Gibraltar . Oil on canvas, 1893, 70.5 × 145.5 cm. Sergej Mašera -Maritime Museum, Piran ( Slovenia ).
• Brigantine at sea . Oil on canvas, 1892, 75 × 150 cm. Sergej Mašera-Maritime Museum, Piran.
• SMS Budapest in front of the port of Fiume . Graphic , around 1905, 35 × 57 cm. Maritime and Historical Museum of Croatia Littoral, Rijeka (Croatia).
• SMS pheasant . Oil on canvas, 1897, 70 × 165 cm. Historical Museum of Istria , Pula (Croatia).
• Unknown Austro-Hungarian sailing ship . Oil on canvas, 19th century, 70.5 × 100.5 cm. Historical Museum of Istria, Pula (Croatia).
• LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin” with the Russian icebreaker “Malygin” . Oil on canvas, 1931, 81 × 121.8 cm. Zeppelin Museum , Friedrichshafen .

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  The sea battle at Lissa 1866 (1918)

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  International fleet demonstration in the Dulcigno / Ulcinj area (South Dalmatia)

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  Aeroplan before departure

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  Sailing ship in front of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor 1897

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  Passenger ship Kungsholm on the Swedish-America Line leaving New York in 1928

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  The training ships of the Imperial Navy Stosch , Stein and Gneisenau 1896

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  The USS Kentucky , a battleship of the Great White Fleet, traveled the world in 1908

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  Pre-alpine landscape with a river and a farmer plowing

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  On the upper deck of the express steamer Columbia ( Die Gartenlaube magazine , hand drawing 1890)

Looted artwork

LZ 127 with the Russian icebreaker Malygin , 1931

• The original: LZ 127 “Graf Zeppelin” with the Russian icebreaker “Malygin” , 1931, 66.00 × 100.00 cm, originally belonged to the inventory of the Reichspostmuseum in Berlin. In 1945 after the end of the Second World War, this picture was lost. The painting was auctioned at Cowan's Auctions in Cincinnati, Ohio USA in 2005 for US $ 19,550. The picture has been with Pullman Gallery in London ever since. A return to the Museum for Communication in Frankfurt am Main (legal successor to the Reichspostmuseum) has not yet taken place.

literature

• E. Samsinger , MCOrtner (Ed.): Our war fleet 1556-1908 , exp . Reprint by Koudelka, A.Kircher. 1914. Kral Verlag, Bendorf, 1st edition 2019, p. 360, ISBN 978-3-99024-856-0 .
• Liliana Pajola (ed.): "La Marina da Guerra Austro-Ungarica nei quadri di Alexander Kircher, pittore triestino dimenticato" . Publisher: "Luglio editore", Trieste, 2018, in Italian, ISBN 978-88-6803-251-7 .
• Peter Teichmann: High art - Alexander Kircher, a German-Austrian marine painter . In: Schiff Classic , magazine for shipping and marine history eV of the DGSM , edition: 1/2017, pp. 58–63.
• Herbert Karting: Itzehoer Schifffahrtschronik. Edition Falkenberg, Bremen, 1st edition 2015, p. 320 f., ISBN 978-3-95494-052-3 .
• Andreas Beyer , Bénédict Savoy, Wolf Tegethoff (Hrsg.): General artist lexicon. De Gruyter , Berlin / Boston 2014, Volume 80, ISBN 978-3-11-023185-4 , p. 307
• Jürgen Jensen: Kiel and the Sea in Art and Photo Reportage. Boyens Buchverlag , Heide 2004, p. 211, ISBN 978-3-80421-127-8 .
• Helmut Ebert: German directory of artists from 1800. Publishing house, University and State Library of the Westphalian Wilhelms University, Münster 2011, 475 pages, SWB-PPN: 359343279
• Hans-F. Schweers: Paintings in German museums. Catalog of the exhibited and depot-stored works, 4th act. u. exp. Edition, p. 607, KG Saur Verlag , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-598-24168-2
• Thomas Habersatter (Ed.): Ship ahead. Marine painting from the 14th to 19th centuries. Exhibition catalog, Salzburg, 2005.
• Peter Bussler: Historical lexicon for Cuxhaven and the surrounding area. Verlag Heimatbund der Männer vom Morgenstern, Bremerhaven, 2004, 440 pp., 113, ISBN 3-931771-41-5 .
• Stjepan Lozo: Alexander Kircher - Portraits of Ships - a collection of paintings. Croatian Maritime Museum publishing house, Split 2000.
• Emmanuel Bénézit : Dictionnaire critique et documentaire des peintres, sculpteurs dessinateurs et graveurs. Édition Gründ, Paris 1999, Volume 7, 814 pages, ISBN 2-7000-3017-6
• G.Pawlik, L.Baumgartner (Hrsg.): Austria's navy and coast on old postcards. H. Weishaupt Verlag, Graz, 2nd edition 1996.
• Renate Basch-Ritter (Ed.): Austria on all seas. Styria Verlag, Graz, Vienna, Cologne, 1995.
• Elke Grapenthin: Artists in and around Bremerhaven - 1827–1990. Publisher: HM Hauschild GmbH, Bremen 1991, 556 pp. 72-76, ISBN 3-926598-40-9
• J.Bracker , U.Bauche , C.Prange: Alster, Elbe and the sea. Hamburg's shipping and port in paintings, drawings and watercolors from the Museum of Hamburg History. Topographikon Verlag, Hamburg 1981, 248 pp. ISBN 3-920953-18-5 .
• Hans Jürgen Hansen (Ed.): German marine painting. G. Stalling Verlag AG, Oldenburg and Hamburg, 1977, ISBN 3-7979-1117-3
• Hans Jürgen Hansen (ed.): The ships of the German fleets 1848-1945. Urbes Verlag, Graefelfing before Munich, 1973, ISBN 978-3-7979-1834-5
• AE Sokol (ed.): Sea power Austria - The kuk Kriegsmarine 1382–1918. Verlag F. Molden, Vienna, Munich, Zurich, 1972.
• Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Military Science Institute): Flies 90/71 , exhibition catalog, Volume II: Flies in the First World War, paintings and drawings . Vienna 1971.
• Karl Gogg: Austria's Navy 1848–1918. Verlag Das Bergland-Buch, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Zurich, 1967.
• Hanns Gieseler (Ed.): North Sea , Volume 1, German landscape in words and pictures. Verlag A. Anton, Leipzig, 1932.
• Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of visual artists from antiquity to the present . Volume 20, Leipzig, 1927, 351 pp.
• Johannes Kaltenboeck : With united forces. Union, German publishing company, Stuttgart, 1916, 3rd edition, 327 pp.
• Koudelka, Alfred Frhr. from: Our navy 1556-1908. Verlag Kleinmayr & Bamberger, Laibach , 1914, 95 pp. + 25 colored plates after paintings by A. Kircher.

Web links

Commons : Alexander Kircher  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Thomas Habersatter (ed.): Ship ahead. Marine painting of the 14th to 19th centuries. Exhibition catalog, Salzburg 2005, p. 264.
2. ↑ Hans Vollmer (Ed.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Volume 20, Leipzig, 1927, p. 351.
3. ^ Printing, publishing house and art dealer Nenke & Ostermaier, Dresden
4. ↑ Manuscripts online service of the SLUB-Dresden
5. ^ Written information from the Radebeul City Archives from November 2011.
6. ↑ Idealizing, large-format painting of the Isonzo passenger ship in the Gulf of Trieste, Technical Museum, Vienna
7. ^ Austrian Armed Forces - "Troop Service" magazine - Volume 338, Edition: 2/2014 " The Croatian Naval Museum in Split "
8. ^ Heeresgeschichtliches Museum (Military Science Institute): Flies 90/71 , exhibition catalog, Volume II: Flies in the First World War, paintings and drawings . Vienna 1971, p. 32 f.
9. ↑ Alexander Kircher: The German Navy , Munich, 1939
10. ↑ Wolfgang Loeff: Deutschlands Seegeltung , Berlin, 1939
11. ^ Knight , position within the order hierarchy
12. ↑ Video Marinebild by Alexander Kircher on ndr.de
13. ↑ Lieb & Teuer: Who offers more? from December 29, 2019
14. ^ Collection, City & Shipping Museum, Kiel.
15. ↑ Evening mood ~ brigantine at sea ~ last picture Sergej Mašera-Maritime Museum, Piran
16. ^ German Center for the Loss of Cultural Property, Lost Art-ID: 459617
17. ^ Cowan's auction house, Cincinnati, Ohio USA
18. ^ Pullman Gallery in London
19. ↑ Lost Art
20. ↑ Alexander Kircher at FINDARTINFO COM ~ date: 02-03-2005 ~ name: Fantastic Arctic Scene With The Graf Zeppelin ~ size: 26.00 x 39.00 inch ~ Oil on canvas ~ price: 19,550 USD.