Christian Wilhelm Allers

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Self-portrait, 1894

Christian Wilhelm Allers (born August 6, 1857 in Hamburg , † October 19, 1915 in Karlsruhe ) was a German draftsman , painter and illustrator , who particularly through naturalistic portraits and everyday scenes as well as depictions from the life of the naval soldiers and through his books about Bismarck became known.

Life

CW Allers was born in Hamburg in 1857 as the son of a businessman. He initially worked as a lithographer there, but moved to Karlsruhe in 1877, where he initially continued to work as a lithographer . At the Karlsruhe Art Academy he took lessons from Ferdinand Keller, among others . In 1880 and 1881 he served in the navy in Kiel and was sponsored by Anton von Werner .

In Kiel he also met Klaus Groth , whom he often met and occasionally portrayed.

He became known in 1888 for his portfolio "Club Eintracht". More successful portfolios and illustrated books soon followed (including about Bismarck ) so that he was able to build a house in Karlsruhe ( Lage ) around 1890 and a villa on Capri ( Lage ) in 1892 . He lived there for many years (with stays in Hamburg and Karlsruhe and trips to many countries around the world). His villa was visited by many German and foreign celebrities.

In autumn 1902 there was a scandal : he was accused of pederasty (as a result of the "Krupp scandal" about Friedrich Alfred Krupp ) and in 1903 sentenced by an Italian court to 4½ years in prison. Allers fled and traveled around the world several times. He continued to paint (now under the stage name "W. Andresen") and earned his living primarily through portraits. He died shortly after returning to Germany in 1915. His artistic estate was auctioned in Karlsruhe in 1919 .

“At the Brandenburg Gate”, drawing from the “Spreeathener” cycle (1889) by C. W. Allers. The author Julius Stinde is depicted in a fictitious conversation with two of his characters in the novel.

Artistic classification

CW Allers was a naturalist . He drew his motifs very detailed and realistic, without incorporating his own feelings. In the viewer, however, movements can arise through the content of the works, for example through the representation of social contrasts or the consequences of aging. However, he took the liberty of incorporating the faces of people he knew into other scenes, in this sense he is not a realist . Technically, Allers worked a lot with pencil and chalk. His colored works are usually based on a pencil drawing that was colored later (pastel, oil ...).

Thematically, his work can be divided into the following areas:

  • Everyday scenes (e.g. Club Eintracht , Spreeathener )
  • Travel stories (e.g. La bella Napoli , Around the world )
  • Representation of important personalities (e.g. Our Bismarck )
  • Portraits as commissioned work

Picture folders and illustrated books

As an author or editor

Prince v. Bismarck's reading table from Fürst Bismarck in Friedrichsruh (1892)
  1. 1885 from Cameroon. A picture book for children of all ages . ( Ten little negroes )
  2. 1885 All sorts of unpoetic things
  3. 1887 Behind the curtains of the Circus Renz
  4. 1887 Hamburg Pictures
  5. 1887 The Mikado (actors and scenes from the operetta Der Mikado )
  6. 1888 Club Eintracht - A summer trip
  7. 1888 Behind the curtains
  8. 1888 Colorful world
  9. 1889 A honeymoon through Switzerland
  10. 1889 Spreeathener. Berlin pictures
  11. 1890 The Meininger
  12. 1890 The silver wedding
  13. 1891 Our Navy
  14. 1891 Backschisch. Memories of Augusta Victoria's journey to the Orient.
  15. 1891 Der Amateur-Photographer (published without permission from CW Allers, edition 1000 copies)
  16. 1892 Capri
  17. 1892 Prince von Bismarck in Friedrichsruh
  18. 1893 La bella Napoli
  19. 1895 Our Bismarck
  20. 1895 in the Rathsweinkeller in Hamburg
  21. 1896 honeymoon in Italy
  22. 1897 The German hunters book , along with Ludwig Ganghofer published
  23. 1898 Around the world
  24. 1898 Our Bismarck. Memory edition
  25. 1900 Under the German flag
  26. 1902 German corps life

There are reprints of the works:

As an illustrator

  • 1887 Anna Lindau: New fairy tales . Schottländer publishing house, Breslau.
  • 1887 FH Benary: Hans Besenried. A minstrel song .
  • 1890 Ernst von Wolzüge : He takes pictures! A nervous story in verse.
  • 1894 Alexander Olinda: Friend of Allers (biography)

Works

Exhibitions and museums

After Allers' death, an estate exhibition took place at the Hamburg art house Louis Bock & Sohn in September 1916 . In 1957 (100th year of birth) the Altona Museum held a solo exhibition. In 1969 the Deutsche Bundespost Berlin published a series of stamps containing three motifs by Allers .

At the present time, prints in a maritime context are exhibited in the International Maritime Museum Hamburg and the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhaven. Originals are listed in the collections (but not in the permanent exhibitions) of the Altona Museum and the Hamburger Kunsthalle . The Klaus Groth Museum in Heide also shows some sketches and prints.

From March 14, 2013 to September 29, 2013, the Obere Saline Museum in Bad Kissingen showed an Allers exhibition.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Carl Griese : Memories . BoD Norderstedt 2013, p. 102f.
  2. ^ Otto Bähr : A new bookseller process . In: Die Grenzboten vol. 51, 1892, pp. 502-513
  3. ^ Artistic estate of the painter CW Allers, Karlsruhe . Antiquariat Creutzer, Aachen, 1919. Libraries GVK

Web links

Commons : Christian Wilhelm Allers  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Christian Wilhelm Allers  - Sources and full texts
personal data
SURNAME Allers, Christian Wilhelm
ALTERNATIVE NAMES W. Andresen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German draftsman, painter and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH August 6, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH October 19, 1915
Place of death Karlsruhe