Artur Nicodem

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Self-portrait, around 1920

Artur Nikodem (born February 6, 1870 in Trient , † February 10, 1940 in Innsbruck ) was an Austrian painter and photographer.

Live and act

Nicodem was the son of the Austrian officer Hugo Nikodem stationed in Trento and Luisa de Bonamico, who came from the Venetian nobility. From 1885 to 1888 he graduated from secondary school in Innsbruck; against the will of his parents he then went to the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich to study with Franz von Defregger and Wilhelm von Kaulbach ; But he mainly studied the works of art in the Glyptothek and the Pinakothek . Years of study in Milan with Campestrini and in Florence followed . During the military service in the Navy, he experienced the Mediterranean as far as Egypt; In 1892 he stayed in Paris, where he dealt with current trends in the visual arts and the possibilities of artistic freedom.

After his father's death in 1892, he joined the state postal service and in 1893 moved to Merano , where he spent 14 years. There he joined the Meraner Künstlerbund, founded around 1903, and was regularly represented at its exhibitions. In 1908 he returned to Innsbruck with his family, where he stayed until the end of his life. After his early retirement in 1920, he worked there as a freelance artist. Successful exhibitions at home and abroad followed in the 1920s. During the National Socialist era he was expelled from various artists' associations; 14 of his works exhibited in the Nuremberg Municipal Collections since 1931 in a separate “Nikodem Cabinet” were confiscated by the state authorities as degenerate art in 1937. Parts of his work were destroyed in Nuremberg. After the annexation of Austria, he was only able to practice his painting activity in a retreat and without the possibility of exhibition. Nicodem then went into a kind of " inner emigration "; only those close to him had the opportunity to see his work.

In the Innsbruck district of Arzl , a street is named after Nikodem.

The photographic work

Barbara, sitting in an armchair , 1930

Nicodem also worked as a photographer; To this day, much-noticed exhibitions in New York, Munich and Bochum have been dedicated to his photographs.

Nikodem's photographs can be classified into two categories. The oriental motifs (1916–18) come from the time of his stay in Turkey, where he was stationed as a KuK telegraph officer. Another area that was particularly fascinating about Nicodem was the images of women in his life - mostly much younger companions and lovers.

Nikodem's earliest photographs were taken in Bulgaria around 1914, followed by more than 200 photographs in Turkey. Further photographs were taken on his numerous hikes in Tyrol. Dramatic mountain shots, but also architectural images of Innsbruck, shots in Munich with a small series from the Munich zoo Hellabrunn marked his path. Another area of ​​Nikodem's photographic art are still lifes, stagings such as the photography “Vase / Bird / Feather”. The portraits of his second wife Barbara, portrayed as a “vamp”, as a “knitting housewife”, Barbara with orange or Barbara in men's clothes with a tie, became particularly famous.

In 2002 his photographs were shown in the New York gallery Robert Mann; In 2010 his great-grandson Martin Krulis set up the artist 's own “Nikodem Museum” in Mutters , in which many of his photographs are shown.

meaning

Landscape with Birch Trees , around 1925

Nikodem's work is an important part of the Tyrolean modernity of the interwar period , which is characterized by the examination of the new currents of the Munich scene and yet tied to the tradition of Tyrolean landscape painting . The roots of his painting can also be found in Viennese Art Nouveau and Secessionism . According to Gert Ammann , his work began “unimpressed by Munich history and genre painting ; Rather, through the short stay in Paris, [she] experienced full opening towards Cézanne and Rodin . Around 1913 he found the decorative element of secessionist art in the succession of Impressionist facets , the erotic subject flourished . [...] In the 1920s he touched the expressionism of Albin Egger-Lienz in some phases . "

His extensive landscape depictions of South and North Tyrolean locations deserve special mention. A special feature were the numerous birch depictions, which were often used symbolically. Albin Egger-Lienz and Alfons Walde were his companions.

Peter Weiermair commented on his photographic work :

"Artur Nikodem's photographs represent a discovery, a parallel phenomenon, because what is transformed and transcended reality in painting through the medium, i.e. painting, becomes present in photography with the greatest intensity of things and bodies in time."

Works (selection)

  • The Navis peasant woman
  • The haybearers
  • Edge of the forest at Tummelplatz (1911)
  • Wilten Basilica (1913)
  • Hug (1921)
  • Mountain landscape with birch trees (1924)
  • Birch trees on the slope
  • Birch trees (around 1935)

literature

Web links

Commons : Artur Nikodem  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Kristian Sotriffer: Closer to nature - man and landscape in painting from 1990 to 1950 - Tyrol and Trentino . Museum of Modern Art Bozen, Bozen 1987.
  2. ↑ Carl Kraus , Hannes Obermair (ed.): Myths of dictatorships. Art in Fascism and National Socialism - Miti delle dittature. Art nel fascismo e nazionalsocialismo . South Tyrolean State Museum for Cultural and State History Castle Tyrol , Dorf Tirol 2019, ISBN 978-88-95523-16-3 , p. 240-241 .
  3. ↑ a b c Biographical portrait at Galerie Seidler ( Memento of the original from April 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.galerieseidler.at
  4. ↑ a b c d Portrait of the artist at regionaut
  5. ↑ Information at robertmann.com ( Memento of the original from June 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.robertmann.com
personal data
SURNAME Nicodem, Artur
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian painter and photographer
DATE OF BIRTH February 6, 1870
PLACE OF BIRTH Trent
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 1940
Place of death innsbruck