Alfred Lomnitz

Alfred (Abraham) Lomnitz (born September 30, 1892 in Eschwege , † 1953 in London ) was a German painter, graphic artist and designer of Jewish denomination, later an artist in exile in England. He is attributed to the artists of the lost generation . His middle name indicates that he belongs to the Jewish community.

education

Lomnitz attended elementary school and the Friedrich-Wilhelm secondary school in Eschwege. His career aspiration as a graphic designer and painter did not surprise anyone in his family, as several painters, poets and authors came from her. On September 14, 1909, Lomnitz left Eschwege and moved to Kassel . There he probably did an internship for his future profession.

From October 1910 to October 1912 he attended the Grand Ducal Saxon School of Applied Arts in Weimar . He was a student of Professor Henry van de Velde , but was heavily influenced by Paul Klee , who also taught there. He then returned to Kassel again and signed off for Berlin on October 9, 1912 . There he continued his education. When he was called up for military service, he was already calling himself an artist. After the First World War he was back in Eschwege for some time.

In 1919 Lomnitz had his first own exhibition at the Neumann Gallery in Berlin under the title: Woodcuts by Alfred Lomnitz , most of the works were signed with LOM . For the period up to 1923 there are no documents about his further career and whereabouts.

Lomnitz in Berlin

In 1923 Lomnitz married in Berlin. He ran the Litz studios for painting, graphics and design in three parts of the city . In addition to his actual work as a painter and graphic artist, he designed vending machines for coffee and sandwiches. Despite the bad economic situation at the time, Lomnitz went on study trips to Paris , Ascona and Lake Maggiore . In 1926 he exhibited again in the Neumann Gallery (now Neumann-Nierendorf), where Max Beckmann , Marc Chagall , Otto Dix , Paul Klee, Oskar Kokoschka and other world-famous artists were also offered. Lomnitz knew many of these painters personally through his exhibitions in the Free Secession and in the Novembergruppe .

Lomnitz in England

Lomnitz recognized the dangers posed by the National Socialist government early on and emigrated to England in 1933. However, his own statements that he had already spent a few years in exile in Paris remain unconfirmed. In London he first worked as a freelance graphic artist and in 1934 had an exhibition of his works in the Ryman Gallery in Oxford. He worked as a graphic designer and window designer for well-known companies such as Lyons Tea , Brodericks , Simpsons , Wolesley and finally as an advertising manager for Swears and Wells . Since Lomnitz was a German citizen, he was interned in the Liverpool suburb of Huyton in 1940 or 1941, the information varies. Several sketches of camp life and his book Never mind Mr.Lom! or The use of Adversity . (Never mind, Mr Lom! Or luck in misfortune), published in London in 1941.

After the war, Alfred Lomnitz did not return to Germany. In the last years of his life he suffered badly from Parkinson's disease , which was also reflected in his pictures and works. Alfred Lomnitz died in London in 1953, the exact date of his death is not known (including the family).

Alfred Lomnitz was a member of various artist groups:

• The creators, Weimar
• November group , Berlin
• German Association of Artists
• Reich Association of German Visual Artists , Berlin

Exhibitions

From 1919 to 1934 Lomnitz participated in various exhibitions:

• 1919 Berlin: Exhibition in the Neumann Gallery, woodcuts
• 1920 Berlin: Free Secession (1 picture)
• 1921 Berlin: GKB Great Berlin Art Exhibition , November Group Department (2 works)
• 1922 Berlin: GKB (7 pen drawings)
• 1926 Berlin: Gallery Neumann-Nierendorf, collective exhibition
• 1929 Berlin: JKB Jury Free Art Show Berlin (1 painting)
• 1930 Berlin: GKB (2 works, Im Café and Der Geiger )
• 1931 Berlin: GKB (3 works, disorder , up the hill and the farmer in the south )
• 1931 Berlin: November group (2 works)
• 1934 Oxford: Galerie Ryman, catalog: Gouache and monochrome drawings with a foreword by Alfred Lomnitz.

Posthumous exhibitions

• 1954 London: Memorial exhibition at the Ben Uri Art Society
• 1970 Berlin: Galerie Nierendorf . The twenties, German art from 1914 to 1923 with illustrations of works by A. Lomnitz
• 1971 Esslingen
• 1973 Esslingen
• 1984 Leipzig: Museum of Fine Arts Leipzig . Catalog: The Creators Theme-Style-Shape 1917–1932
• 1986 Berlin
• 1986 Oberhausen
• 1986 Vienna
• 1986 West Hampstead / John Denham Gallery: Alfred Lomnitz, Paintings-Drawings-Prints
• 1986 London: Camden Arts Center and Goethe Institut: Art in Exile in Great Britain 1933-45
• 1990 London
• 1993/94 Berlin: Bodo Niemann Gallery , November Group
• 1999/2000 Altenburg / Thuringia
• 2000 Dinslaken Galerie Uncompromisingly Art in Exile, Alfred Lomnitz and other artists

Works by Alfred Lomnitz can be found in the gallery of the British Museum in London, the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the University of Leeds . In the literature pictures with the indication Walter Lomnitz, Alfred Walter Lomnitz and Walther Lomnitz appear again and again. But this was the name of his older brother, who was a merchant in Eschwege and never painted. According to the Thuringian Main State Archives, no other artist with the family name Lomnitz is known in Weimar.

Patents

Alfred Lomnitz not only worked as an artist, he also constructed, as mentioned above, vending machines, devices for the presentation of goods and a turning top . For this work he received both German and English patents.

• DRP 543258 of January 14, 1932, and English patent 367.735 of February 25, 1935, for a device for displaying goods, with four turntables and a paternoster.
• DRP 599195 of June 17, 1934 for a vending machine for selecting goods
• DRP 613285 of April 18, 1935 and English Patent 442,452 of February 10, 1936 for a gyro for play purposes.

Publications (selection)

• Alfred Lomnitz: Never mind, Mr. Lom! or the use of adversity / Alfred Lomnitz: With ill. by the author. Macmillan, London 1941.

Literature and Sources

• Lomnitz, Alfred . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 23 : Leitenstorfer – Mander . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1929, p. 350 .
• Siegmund Kaznelson (ed.): Hans Freibusch, Arnold Marx, Alfred Lomnitz, Erich Isenburger…. belong to the best Jewish talents of this generation ... In: Jews in the German cultural sector. A compilation second, greatly expanded edition. Jüdischer Verlag, Berlin 1959, p. 94, (3rd edition: 1985).
• Anna Maria Zimmer (with a contribution by Ulla Böttcher): Jews in Eschwege: Development and destruction of the Jewish community - from the beginning to the present. Self-published, Eschwege 1993, numerous. Ill., Kt.
• NN [Angela and Detlef Borowski]: Alfred Lomnitz - painter from Eschwege. in: The Werraland. 49th year, No. 4, Eschwege 1997, pp. 76-79.
• Hans Joachim Bodenbach: Alfred Lomnitz (1892–1953) graphic artist, painter and designer from Eschwege - artist of the lost generation. In: Eschweg history sheets. 14/2003, Eschwege 2004, pp. 45–68, with ten illustrations, including a self-portrait of the artist in the mirror, p. 49.
• Hans Joachim Bodenbach: Again to: Alfred Lomnitz (1892 - 1953) graphic artist, painter and designer from Eschwege - artist of the lost generation. In: Eschweg history sheets. 15/2004, Eschwege, pp. 89–91, with a photo of A. Lomnitz from his German passport.
• Lomnitz, painter, graphic artist…. In: General Artist Lexicon . Volume 8: Bio-bibliographical index A – Z. 2nd expanded and updated edition, KG Saur, Munich / Leipzig 2008, p. 168.
• Frank Henry Loesser, Miquel Loquer (eds.): Lomnitz, alfred…. In: Index Bio-Bibliographicus notorum hominum. Pars C: Corpus alphabeticum I. General section. Volume 156, Verlag Zeller, Mettingen 2009, p. 322.
• Anthony Grenville, Andrea Reiter (Eds.): Political Exile and Politics in Britain after 1933 (= Yearbook of the Research Center of German & Austrian Exile Studies ) Volume 12, Amsterdam / New York 2011, pp. 126–128.
• Alfred Lomnitz: Alfred Lomnitz, b. September 30, 1892 in ESW. In: Karl Kollmann , York-Egbert König : Names and fates of the Jewish victims of National Socialism from Eschwege - a memorial book. Frankfurt am Main 2012, pp. 147–148 (short biography).

Web links

• Alfred Lomnitz (German, 1892–1953). artnet.de