Bertold Löffler

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bertold Löffler

Bertold (Berthold) Löffler (born September 28, 1874 in Nieder-Rosenthal near Reichenberg in Northern Bohemia, today part of Liberec , Czech Republic; † March 23, 1960 in Vienna ) was an Austrian historical and fresco painter , as well as graphic artist and designer .

Life

Löffler came from a Bohemian family of clothiers. After attending evening classes at the drawing school of the North Bohemian Trade Museum in Reichenberg / Böhmen (1888–1890), he graduated from the Vienna School of Applied Arts with Franz Matsch and Koloman Moser . From 1900 he was self-employed, and in 1903 he was appointed assistant to Anton Groll. Together with Michael Powolny, he founded the "Wiener Keramik" workshop in 1905.

In 1907 he took over the “specialist class for painting and the workshop for printing processes” at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, from which a whole generation of modern Austrian graphic artists emerged, including Oskar Kokoschka , Josef von Divéky and Josef Binder . In 1908 Löffler co-founded the “Kunstschau” and the “Österreichischer Werkbund” and in 1909 he was appointed professor as the successor to Carl Otto Czeschka, who was called to Hamburg .

When the First World War broke out , Löffler was assigned to the south-western front as a first lieutenant in the reserve together with three photographers for the purpose of making nature studies . In 1916 he was head of the central office for the picture service and on March 23, 1917, he was transferred to the art group of the kuk war press quarter as a war painter (until February 15, 1918). In April 1918 he was a general officer of the Army Museum at the 10th Army Command in Trento. As a war painter, he designed posters for war exhibitions and war bonds , patriotic picture books and screw medals . Study trips take him to Germany and Italy .

Löffler designed postcards, posters and calendars for the Wiener Werkstätte . In the ceramics sector, he worked for Josef Hoffmann's projects , for example for the Purkersdorf Sanatorium , the Fledermaus Cabaret and the Stoclet Palace in Brussels . Löffler also designed a number of bookplates, including the one for Sigmund Freud (incidentally, with the incorrect spelling of the name Siegmund , which, however, did not prevent Freud from using this bookplate). Apart from that, he sent numerous international exhibitions with paintings and graphic works.

On the occasion of his 80th birthday in 1954, Löffler received numerous awards, including being awarded the “Golden Laurel” by the Vienna Künstlerhaus. In 1960 Bertold Löffler died in Vienna. He was buried at the Vienna Central Cemetery .

Works (excerpt)

  • Hand grenade launcher , 1916, oil on canvas, 82.5 cm × 60 cm, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna.
  • Ecce homo , 1914/15, Heeresgeschichtliches Museum Vienna.

literature

  • E. Patka (Ed.): Bertold Löffler. Exhibition catalog, University of Applied Arts, Vienna 2000.
  • Liselotte Popelka: From hurray to the corpse field. Paintings from the war picture collection 1914–1918. Vienna 1981.
  • Heinz Adamek : Bertold Löffler (1874–1960) Graphics and Designs . Exhibition catalog, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Austrian Institute, New York 1982.
  • Heinz Adamek : Bertold Löffler 1874–1960 . Exhibition catalog, University of Applied Arts, Vienna 1978.
  • Hans Ries:  Löffler, Bertold. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 32 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Heinz P. Adamek : Artistic Chords - Diagonal. Essays on art, architecture, literature and society . Vienna: Böhlau 2016, ISBN 978-3-205-20250-9 , pp. 51-69

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Walter Reichel: "Press work is propaganda work" - Media Administration 1914-1918: The War Press Quarter (KPQ) . Communications from the Austrian State Archives (MÖStA), special volume 13, Studienverlag, Vienna 2016, ISBN 978-3-7065-5582-1 , p. 182.
  2. ↑ Liselotte Popelka: From Hurray to the corpse field. Paintings from the war picture collection 1914–1918. Vienna 1981, p. 48.
  3. ^ Austrian Army Museum (ed.): Catalog of the war picture gallery of the Austrian Army Museum , Vienna 1923, p. 11
  4. ^ Grave site Berthold Löffler , Vienna, Central Cemetery, Group 15, Group Extension H, Row 8, No. 8.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Löffler, Bertold
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Löffler, Berthold
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian painter, graphic artist and designer
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Nieder-Rosenthal (Reichenberg), today part of Liberec
DATE OF DEATH March 23, 1960
Place of death Vienna