Franz Xaver Unterseher

Franz Xaver Unterseher (born January 5, 1888 in Göggingen ; † April 12, 1954 in Kempten (Allgäu) ) was a German painter and medalist.

Franz Xaver Unterseher, self-portrait on field postcard, February 17, 1917

Life

Unterseher attended the Royal Realschule in Augsburg until 1906 . From 1907 to 1909 he graduated from the arts and crafts school in Munich and attended the Academy of Fine Arts . He also studied at the Polytechnic , where he passed the state examination for art education in 1910. Then he worked for two years at the grammar school in Ettal . He then gave up teaching and worked as a freelancer in art and painting. His first commissioned works were copies, for example for the Alte Pinakothek in Munich. On a study trip in Paris , he met contemporary designers who inspired him to create numerous fabric and wallpaper designs. He had to give up a short job in London because of the First World War . Unterseher was called up for military service and, after being buried, was released before the end of the war. From 1915 he worked as a drawing teacher at the teacher training institute in Lauingen .

In 1924 Unterseher moved to Kempten in the Allgäu . Here he worked as a teacher at the Oberrealschule Kempten . Like Franz von Stuck , he also built his own house without the help of an architect. He carved all the banisters himself, made inlays for the doors and stucco work, built the furniture and designed door handles and signs himself. In Kempten he was appointed professor. He died there in 1954 at the age of 66.

Painting and drawing made up the largest part of his overall work. In particular, he created landscape and mountain pictures, portraits, flower still lifes and figurative compositions. One focus was silver pen drawings. After being injured in the war, his works suffered from severe depression. In addition to working for wallpaper, fabric and carpet factories, Franz Unterseher also made designs for goldsmiths and locksmiths. From 1910 to 1924 he worked on craft designs for the Lebermann company in New York . In 1934, Unterseher manufactured the entrance door to the large conference room for the town hall in Kempten with inlays, which represent the most important points in the city's history. He was able to present his works in numerous exhibitions, such as industrial exhibitions, in the Glaspalast, in the Haus der Kunst and the Städtische Galerie in Munich, in the Kunstverein in Augsburg and Munich, as well as in the Graphisches Kabinett in Berlin .

The city of Kempten honored Franz Xaver Unterseher by naming a path in the Rothkreuz district after the painter.

Exhibitions

1939 to 1944 Large German Art Exhibition in Munich

Individual evidence

1. ^ Bernard Kühling: Allgäuer Künstlerlexikon . 1st edition. Kempten 2012, p. 369.

literature

• A great experimenter: Franz Xaver Unterseher, drawing teacher in Kempten (1888–1954). (1998)
• Painting in Lauingen. Hoffmann Collection. Kulturverein Lauingen 2003, pp. 35–39
• Anna Köhl, Ralf Lienert: Creative minds. Streets and their namesake in Kempten . Tobias Dannheimer publishing house, Kempten (Allgäu) 2007, ISBN 978-3-88881-056-5 , p. 78 .