Eugen Bracht

Eugen Bracht

Eugen Felix Prosper Bracht (* 3. June 1842 in Morges , Vaud , Switzerland ; † 15. November 1921 in Darmstadt ) was a German landscape and history painter and university professor .

Life

Eugen Bracht was born in 1842 as the son of a doctorate in law and administrator Prosper Bracht and his wife Rosalie Franziska, nee. Zurstraßen (born November 18, 1819 in Verviers), born in Morges on Lake Geneva . Bracht's father, an advocate of civil liberties and Rhenish law , had moved there after he fled Prussia in 1834 in connection with the accusation against him of participating in treasonous connections, in whose civil service he had been employed as a district court auscultator. Eugen Bracht had two sisters and three brothers, including Theodor Carl Joseph (* 1843 in Morges, † 1911 in Antwerp). His uncle was the businessman and author Viktor Bracht , who emigrated to Texas with the Mainz Noble Association in 1845 .

At the age of eight, Bracht came to Darmstadt with his family. There the father became the asset manager and legal advisor of Maximiliane von Oyen, née Countess von Bertrand zu Perusa-Criechingen (1786–1864), the heiress of the Hofmark Fürstenstein . Between 1850 and 1859 Bracht attended Schmidt's private school and the higher commercial and secondary school in Darmstadt. He received his first drawing lessons from Franz Ofen . Soon he became a student of the painters Friedrich Frisch , Karl Ludwig Seeger and August Lucas . He met Johann Wilhelm Schirmer on a trip to Heidelberg Castle with Phillip Röth . He brought Bracht to the Karlsruhe art school as a student in 1859 . Bracht spent the summer months of 1860 in the Black Forest with the painters Emil Lugo and Hans Thoma . In the winter semester of 1858/59 he became a member of the Corps Arminia , which later became Corps Hassia Darmstadt .

Sponsored and supported by his teachers, Bracht went to Düsseldorf in the autumn of 1861 to the studio of the Norwegian landscape painter Hans Fredrik Gude . As a freelance artist, he became a member of the Düsseldorf artist association Malkasten . Bracht was shaped during this time by the landscape painter Oswald Achenbach , then Gudes' tutor at the Düsseldorf Art Academy . Bracht was able to work independently in Gude's studio, but was never entirely satisfied with his pictures. Disappointed by the situation, Bracht turned away from painting in 1864, left Düsseldorf and moved to Verviers , Belgium , where he trained as a wool merchant.

In 1870 he started his own business as a wool merchant in Berlin . The success was short-lived, so that Bracht soon had to file for bankruptcy as a result of the political events ( Franco-German War ). In his private life he dealt intensively with photography and prehistoric and early historical studies. His wife Maria Deurer, the daughter of the court artist Ludwig Deurer , motivated Bracht to return to painting.

Bracht left Berlin and in the spring of 1876 returned to his teacher Gude in Karlsruhe. Here he celebrated his first successes with his dune pictures . With these pictures Bracht mainly focused on the barren landscapes of the Baltic Sea coast and the Lüneburg Heath . Both the public and the official art critic praised the “atmospheric solitude” of these pictures. Armgard von Arnim, Bettina von Arnim's daughter, acquired one of the first Heidebilder .

In 1880/1881 Bracht went on a long study trip through Syria , Palestine and Egypt with Carl Coven Schirm and the “travel fanatic and oriental painter” Adolf von Meckel . Back in Berlin, Bracht processed the impressions in a work cycle with subjects from the Orient . In contrast to the previous painting of Orientalism , he objectified the representation and dispensed with kitschy clichés. The two best-known works Die Abenddämmerung am Dead Sea and Der Sinai were each bought by the National Gallery and the Kaiser, the audience was enthusiastic about the effect of the light and the impressions of travel from strange worlds. Bracht himself viewed his work critically and secretly looked for new forms of expression. He wanted to move to Paris and had sent his wife there to look for an apartment. Anton von Werner found out about the move plans through a painter colleague who lived in the same hotel and tried to prevent the talented young painter from moving by offering him a position at the academy in Berlin.

At the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin

Eugen Bracht in his studio, 1901. Photo by Hermann Boll.

Eugen Bracht 1917 on a photograph by Nicola Perscheid

In 1882 Bracht accepted a position as a lecturer in landscape painting at the Berlin Art Academy , and two years later he was promoted to "full professor" there. One of his most important works in these years was the panorama picture Battle of Sedan in 1883 , which he executed together with Anton von Werner. Among the visitors were u. a. Kaiser Wilhelm and Moltke. The panorama was also visited by an American group of investors who commissioned him with the Panorama Battle of Chattanooga . Kaiser Wilhelm acquired the work Shores of Oblivion and the Russian Tsar Märkischer Birkenwald . Together with their colleague of the same age Philipp Röth and his father-in-law Paul Weber , they went on painting trips during the semester break. Bracht moved into a 12-room apartment on Kurfürstendamm .

He designed the mural “Cape Arkona” for the Reichstag building.

One of Bracht's private passions was paleontology , which he combined with painting journeys. In 1883 he excavated the Buchenloch cave near Gerolstein / Eifel. Eugen Bracht became a member of the Paleontological Society in the founding year 1912 . He donated his collection of Mesolithic and Neolithic tools to the University of Greifswald in 1913 .

In the Berlin art scene, an ever widening gap developed between traditional academic painters and progressive forces. Bracht used to deal with the traditionalists, but artistically had long since turned to more modern painting. He recommended that his pupil Max Uth take part in the founding of the “Secession”. In 1892 there was a final break with the traditionalists. When Bracht's superior and friend Anton von Werner had an Edvard Munch exhibition closed prematurely in 1892 , Bracht was one of the 70 artists who protested against it. In view of the fact that Bracht's class was the most popular and that his students won prizes at art exhibitions, his attitude initially had no professional consequences. When the management of the academy was replaced in 1901, Bracht, who had previously been traded as a candidate, was passed over. Kaiser Wilhelm was upset about von Bracht's impressionistic path and boasted that he had “still decent pictures” of him. In order to convert him to return to the old style, he commissioned him to paint the history painting The Entry of Friedrich von Hohenzollern into the Mark Brandenburg , which Bracht refused. Ultimately, he left Berlin in 1901 to take up a position in Dresden. However, Bracht was still regarded as a representative of the Berlin avant-garde; his works were also part of the progressive "Berlin artist silhouettes" of 1902.

Dresden

Bracht in his two-story Dresden rental apartment, 1904

In 1901/1902 Bracht took over the management of the master studio for landscape painting at the Dresden Art Academy . His master students included u. a. Paul Mishel , Hans Hartig , Willy ter Hell , Franz Korwan and Artur Henne .

Far from the art scene in Berlin, Bracht could work more experimentally. From Dresden he also explored the Saxon landscape and visited earlier destinations such as Sylt or the Eifel . Bracht's success remained unbroken, he was invited annually to send works to the major art exhibitions at home and abroad. Bracht was also one of the preferred selection of contemporary artists that the "Committee for the Procurement and Evaluation of Stollwerck Pictures" suggested to the Cologne chocolate producer Ludwig Stollwerck to commission them with drafts.

In the course of 1919 he withdrew from teaching and went into retirement, which he spent in his chosen hometown of Darmstadt, where family contacts existed.

Darmstadt

The "Villa in Rosen" on Mathildenhöhe

Bracht always maintained social and family contacts in Darmstadt, for example he was a member of the jury of the artists' colony. In addition to Dresden, the city organized an extensive anniversary exhibition for him in 1912. The painter Hans Christiansen sold his house on Mathildenhöhe to a manufacturer. Bracht got in touch with him and bought it from him, after extensive renovation work he moved into it in 1919 as a studio and house. Bracht died on November 15, 1921 at the age of 79 and was buried in Darmstadt. The tombstone of Eugen Bracht is located on the Waldfriedhof Darmstadt (grave point: L 3b 3). An exhibition scheduled for 1922 was renamed the Memorial Exhibition, and works from the estate were also sold.

family

After Bracht was widowed through the death of his wife, he married "Toni" Becker on June 9, 1895, the daughter of the Darmstadt minister Ernst Becker and childhood friend of Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt . A year later their son Alexander Bracht was born (who fell on the Western Front in 1916), followed by Waldemar Bracht in 1898 (who fell in 1942) and in 1911 Gerda Becker (née Bracht), who lived until 1981. The nephew Victor Theodore Bracht (1883–1962) worked as an entrepreneur in Antwerp, where he managed the Bracht & Co. company .

plant

Seven stone houses (1875)

Heathland ( Neu Zittau near Berlin), 1884

Resting in the Syrian Desert , 1883

The Strand of Oblivion from 1889 is one of the most famous works of Symbolism

Until after his travels to the Orient, his work was characterized by a dramatic view of nature. In Berlin he used to paint outdoors even before Walter Leistikow .

Early work

Bracht's early work spanned the period from 1859 to 1873 and was primarily academic. Bracht deals with natural landscapes, people and animals are only indicated by brushstrokes. The mostly small-format paintings on cardboard were created in the studio and appear constructed. His teacher Johann Wilhelm Schirmer has a great influence.

Heathland

Around 1875 Bracht began to occupy himself with the heather, a landscape type that was neglected at the time; only local painters had previously dealt with this subject. He traveled to the Lüneburg Heath, Rügen and the Giant Mountains . After the success, Bracht ventured into large formats up to 2 meters with the heathland. In that creative period the colors take a back seat to the naturalistic atmospheric representation.

Oriental landscapes

After 1881 the first works with oriental motifs were created, many of them as large motifs. Unlike many oriental painters, Bracht did not use the clichés and fantasies of the Europeans, he tried to present a characteristic representation of everyday life with ethnological value. Light and color are the determining elements. Many of the sketches are not implemented because Bracht was heavily involved with stately orders and panoramas.

Cycle of high mountains and symbolic landscapes

From 1887 mountain landscapes and strongly symbolically charged landscapes were created. Natural phenomena and human destinies play an important role. The lighting sometimes appears mystical. Bracht got into a personal crisis and was torn between shape and color.

impressionism

Embankment in the Mühltal , 1914

Around 1898/1899 Bracht wanted to present his impressionistic phase to the public, on May 5, 1898 the Berlin Secession was founded, so that this orientation also implied an art-political stance. Bracht wrote: "Because of my position, I can't do the Secession, I don't want to go with the others." Bracht first exhibited the work in Darmstadt; from the offerings of Berlin and national galleries, he decided on the Eduard Schulte gallery , which celebrated the new century with his works. Characteristic of these works is the concentration on painterly expression with a reduced color palette and a reduction in the subject, the light-dark contrasts are replaced by warm-cold contrasts. This work phase also made him an early representative of German impressionism . Max Osborn wrote in 1909: "If Max Liebermann meant:" Drawing is leaving out, "Bracht transfers this maxim to painting".

Industrial motifs

Hoesch iron and steel works , Dortmund 1907

The last subject Bracht dealt as an industrial painter was with industrial landscapes. He had already painted a few factories before 1899, but it was only from 1903 that these began to play a major role. He was particularly fond of steel mills with their chimneys and clouds of steam. What you can see is not so much the individual worker as the artist's fascination with the overall system.

Late work

The late work from 1915 on is characterized by numerous repetitions and a turn to the public taste with a stricter academic painting . While Bracht was still a pioneer in German Impressionism, he left the avant-garde in his last creative phase. Measured in terms of the quantity of the paintings, this period is one of the most extensive, as there were essentially no experiments or travel.

Works (selection)

• Dreieichenhain, castle ruins (1859), State Art Gallery Karlsruhe
• Northern Italian Landscape (1864), Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
• Megalithic tomb in the heath (1877)
• Am Heidehügel , oil on canvas, 100 × 179, Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg (missing)
• Coast of Rügen (1878)
• Heathland (1879)
• Heideschäfer (1879)
• Dusk on the Dead Sea , National Gallery Berlin
• The Sinai
• The Moab Mountains from the Jordanfurt (1880) Watercolor, Kupferstichkabinett Berlin
• Rock Landscape (1881), Dresden State Art Collections
• Rest in the Araba (Petrean Arabia) (1882), Staatliche Kunsthalle Karlsruhe
• Palm tree-lined oasis (1883)
• Elias am Bache Krith (1884)
• Jericho (1884), National Gallery Berlin
• Shores of Oblivion (first version 1889, then seven more versions)
• Battle of Chattanooga (1889), panoramic painting in Philadelphia
• Through the Heath (1890), Musée de la Cour d'Or, Metz
• Camp Beduins (1891), National Gallery Berlin
• Lake Huleh with otter hunting (1891), Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
• Cliffs at Final-Marina (1893), Kunsthalle Kiel
• Darmstädter Damen (1894), commissioned work for Alix von Hessen-Darmstadt
• Hannibal's grave (1900), one version in the Hessen Kassel Museum Landscape , another formerly owned by the Georg von Siemens family . The motif was painted a total of 18 times. A group of boulders in the Lüneburg Heath was named after the painting.
• The Break (Az ingovány), Szépművészeti Múzeum , Budapest
• The reed pond (1901), Middle Rhine Museum , Koblenz
• When the silver moon (1901), Kunstsammlungen Zwickau
• Norwegian landscape , Great Art Exhibition Dresden 1904
• Night shift, Hösch steel works in Dortmund (1906), oil on canvas, 137 × 136, Kulturhistorisches Museum Magdeburg (missing)
• Hermannshütte in Horde (1907), in "working environments" of the 2011 Hessian State Museum Darmstadt shown
• Winter Evening (1907), Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
• Manderscheid ruins in the Eifel , (1908), shown in 1970 in the Darmstadt art gallery
• The Henrichshütte near Hattingen in the evening , (1912) Westfälisches Landesmuseum Münster
• Hering im Odenwald, Otzberg Castle , (1912), as a postcard: “For Eugen Bracht's 70th birthday. Commissioned by Her Royal Highness the Grand Duchess of Hesse in 1912 "
• The Morning Star on New Years Eve (1899), Morning Star (1912), Memorial Art Gallery Rochester, USA
• Embankment in the Mühltal , (1914), Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt
• Reinsberg Castle from the Meadow (1915), National Gallery Berlin
• Waldbach (1915), State Art Collections Dresden
• Am Seeufer (1916), Dresden State Art Collections
• Upper Hessian Landscape (1916), Dresden State Art Collections
• Melting snow , National Gallery Berlin
• Waldtal am Abend (1915), oil on canvas, 86 × 97, City Collections for History and Culture Görlitz (missing)
• Felswand (1916), oil on canvas, 65 × 58, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen Munich (missing)
• Loisachbett (1916), Chemnitz Municipal Art Collection

Artistic reception

Major works by Bracht were reproduced as prints on cardboard and were lavishly framed in numerous living rooms of the aspiring middle class in the late imperial era. Von Bracht's students painted in the style of the master and offered these works (some unsigned) for sale. This practice was not only tolerated by Bracht, he also often painted together with the students. A common theme was chosen and everyone painted on their canvas. This painting is known as the "Eugen Bracht School".

Von Bracht's colleagues dedicated works to him; For example, Friedrich Wilhelm Hörnlein created an "Eugen Bracht Medal" in 1912, two copies of which are in the State Museums in Dresden; another artist created a bust in 1938. The photographers who portrayed Bracht were court photographers Schulz & Suck from Karlsruhe, Hermann Boll and Nicola Perscheid .

Awards (incomplete)

• 1912: Gold Medal of Merit for Art and Science of the Grand Duchy of Hesse

Within sight of his former house on the Mathildenhöhe in Darmstadt there is the Eugen-Bracht Weg, there are other roads or ways to Bracht. a. in Dresden, Geisenheim, Bispingen, Pantenburg, Schwielowsee.

Exhibitions (incomplete)

Bracht was represented several times during his lifetime a. a. at the Venice Biennale , the Great Berlin Art Exhibition, the German Art Exhibition, the World Exhibitions.

• 1906: Collective exhibition by Eugen Bracht, August von Brandis, Albert Gartmann , Konrad Lessing and Hans Licht , Berlin
• 1907: Exhibition of Contemporary German Paintings Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA), Indianapolis
• 1916: The Dresdner Kunstverein in Hamburg , Hamburg
• 2002: Orient on paper: from Louis-Francois Cassas to Eugen Bracht , Hessisches Landesmuseum
• 2005: On the beauty of the inconspicuous / Eugen Bracht and the Märkische Künstlerbund , Galerie Barthelmess & Wischnewski Berlin

Solo exhibitions (selection)

• 1900: Eugen Bracht special exhibition of the Great Berlin Art Exhibition Berlin
• 1908: Eugen Bracht in Dresden , Kunstverein Leipzig 1908
• 1912: Anniversary exhibition Eugen Bracht Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
• 1912: Eugen Bracht exhibition for the 70th birthday of the Sächsischer Kunstverein Dresden
• 1970: Eugen Bracht Kunsthalle Darmstadt
• 1992: Eugen Bracht - landscape painter in the Wilhelmine Empire Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
• 2005: Eugen Bracht (1842–1921) Museum Giersch Frankfurt
• 2006: Eugen Bracht - Landscape painting as a nature experience Lower Saxony State Museum
• 2016: Eugen Bracht (1842–1921) State Park Fürstenlager, Bensheim-Auerbach

literature

• Max Osborn : Eugen Bracht. Velhagen & Klasing, Bielefeld 1909.
• Adolf Beyer (Ed.): Eugen Bracht. Festschrift to celebrate his 70th birthday. Free Association of Darmstadt Artists, 1912.
• Rudolf Theilmann (ed.): Eugen Bracht, memoirs. Theilmann, Karlsruhe 1973.
• Manfred Großkinsky (Ed.): Eugen Bracht 1842–1921. Landscape painter in the Wilhelmine Empire. Mathildenhöhe, Darmstadt 1992.
• Martina Sitt: Eugen Bracht and his time. Catalog, Galerie Sander, Darmstadt 2001.
• Manfred Großkinsky (Ed.): Eugen Bracht 1842–1921. Museum Giersch, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-935283-10-5 .
• Martina Sitt: The landscaper Eugen Bracht and his Düsseldorf legacy . In: Roland Kanz (Ed.): Düsseldorfer Malerschule. Conference Bonn 2015. Petersberg 2016, pp. 140–155.

Web links

Commons : Eugen Bracht  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Works by Eugen Bracht at Zeno.org .
• Literature by and about Eugen Bracht in the catalog of the German National Library
• Eugen Felix Prosper Bracht on artnet

Individual evidence

1. ^ Prosper Bracht: The demands of our time on civil legislation. Carpenter, Düsseldorf 1834
2. ^ Corps Hassia Darmstadt. 1840-1955. List of members of Hassia-Darmstadt. 1955, pp. 42/43.
3. ↑ Inventory list , website in the portal malkasten.org , accessed on April 21, 2019
4. ↑ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/dkd1899_1900/0286 German art and decoration: illustr. Monthly booklets for modern painting, sculpture, architecture, home art etc. artistic women's work, 5. 1899, p. 247.
5. ↑ Klaus Homann: Painters see the Lüneburg Heath. Albert-König-Museum , Unterlüß 2008, p. 27.
6. ↑ https://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/dkd1899_1900/0286 German art and decoration: illustr. Monthly booklets for modern painting, sculpture, architecture, home art etc. artistic women's work, 5. 1899, p. 247.
7. ↑ https://www.fotoarena.com.br/detalhes/foto/id/akg246926?ide=&b=album Cape Arkona
8. ↑ Paleontological Journal. 1, issue 1, March 1914.
9. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 31, 2016 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.  
10. ↑ Manfred Großkinsky: Eugen Bracht. Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt, 1992, p. 48.
11. ↑ Mind painting : An exhibition about Eugen Bracht and his artistic development in the Giersch Museum. In: FAZ.net . September 23, 2005, accessed October 13, 2018 . 
12. ↑ Detlef Lorenz: Advertising art around 1900. Artist lexicon for collecting pictures. Reimer-Verlag, 2000.
13. ↑ ^{a b} Graves of honor at the Darmstadt forest cemetery
14. ^ Anton Heinrich Springer: Handbook of art history: The 19th century. 1907, p. 333.
15. ↑ Max Osborn: Eugen Bracht. 1909, p. 16.
16. ↑ http://malerei19jh.museum-kassel.de/show.html?kuenstler_id=23&nr=1&id=30328&sort=Alle&bio=1
17. ↑ WL Hertslet, HF Helmolt: The stair joke of world history, p. 135 1910
18. ↑ http://www.basellandschaftlichezeitung.ch/kultur/buch-buehne-kunst/alles-nur-geklaut-oder-kopiert-130360973
19. ↑ http://www.lueneburger-heide.de/14063
20. ↑ Black and white photo in: Die Kunst. Monthly books for free and applied arts. Eleventh volume. Verlagsanstalt F. Bruckmann, Munich 1905, p. 42 , accessed from the scans.library.utoronto.ca portal on December 27, 2013
21. ^ Veit Stiller: Heile Welt: Landscape painting from the Eugen Bracht school. In: welt.de . November 22, 2001, Retrieved October 7, 2018 . 
22. ↑ - ( Memento of the original from March 5, 2016 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. 
23. ↑ http://www.deutschefotothek.de/documents/obj/30120845
24. ↑ https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/LIITKBMNXIFPSNJXY76D6DVEFFOD3OD3
25. ↑ Grand Ducal Hessian Government Gazette for 1912, page 172
26. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 1, 2016 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.