Erich Schilling (draftsman)

Erich Schilling: The Film Star, 1937

Erich Schilling (born February 27, 1885 in Suhl , † April 30, 1945 in Gauting near Munich ) was a German draftsman and caricaturist.

Life

Erich Schilling was born as the fourth child of the rifle manufacturer Peter August Schilling (1832-1918) and Emma Christiane Panse (1845-1933, married since 1872, daughter of a Suhl teacher). The 12-year-old's leg ailment led to a handicap that saved him from military service. Schilling studied at the arts and crafts school in Schwäbisch Gmünd and probably completed an apprenticeship as an engraver in 1899–1902 . In 1903 he studied at the Berlin Art School , where he lived until 1918.

In 1905 the first drawings were made for the SPD- affiliated satirical magazine Der Wahr Jacob . In 1907 he first published a drawing in Simplicissimus . In 1918, Schilling moved to Starnberg near Munich and became a partner in the GmbH that published the magazine. Between 1907 and 1944 he made 1,459 contributions to the Simplicissimus .

After initial attempts in the Art Nouveau style, Schilling contributed his own style to the Simplicissimus , first with drawings reminiscent of medieval single-sheet woodcuts, later with smooth charcoal drawings reminiscent of Art Deco . Alongside Karl Arnold, he was the draftsman among the permanent staff who helped shape the style of the 1920s in the magazine. In addition to the daily news, he mainly created socially critical images.

While he had sharply criticized National Socialism before 1933 , he later became an ardent admirer of the prevailing ideology. So he designed z. B. the party glorifying glass pictures for a barracks in Ingolstadt . Schilling died by suicide when US troops approached Gauting .

Works by Schilling are in the State Collection of Graphics in Munich.

literature

• Erich Schilling. Drawings for the Simplicissimus. Flyer Gallery Dr. Margret Biedermann, Munich undated (1972)
• Erich Schilling (1885–1945). Drawings for the Simplicissimus. Gallery Dr. Margret Biedermann, Munich undated (1977)
• Ulrich Appel: Satire as a contemporary document. The draftsman Erich Schilling, 1885 Suhl / Thuringia - 1945 Gauting near Munich. Life - work - time - environment. Wehle, Witterschlick / Bonn 1995, ISBN 3-935307-96-9 (= contributions to art history , volume 11, dissertation at the University of Bonn 1994).