Friedrich Reimann (painter)

Friedrich Reimann (born September 4, 1896 in Mariaschein , † July 21, 1991 in Zeulenroda ) was a German hunting and animal painter .

Life

Reimann was born in Mariaschein in Bohemia in 1896, and has been based in Zeulenroda in Thuringia since 1908. After training as a decorative painter, he began his artistic training in Berlin in 1915 with dealers, which was broken off when he was drafted into the First World War. From 1920 to 1922 Reimann studied at the State Academy for Applied Arts in Dresden.

As a freelance artist, Reimann decided from the start for the realistic, naturalistic painting style and remained true to his style for a lifetime. In the early 30s he exhibited his paintings with success at the Green Week in Berlin. From 1935 on he was regularly invited to hunting and study trips by Joachim Dietlof Graf von Arnim-Boitzenburg (1898–1972) to his castle in the Uckermark. The special biodiversity of fauna and flora there inspired him to paint. From 1938 he was regularly represented with large-format oil paintings at the National Socialist propaganda exhibitions in the House of German Art in Munich and achieved considerable sales successes. In 1942, at the age of 46, he was drafted into the Navy. In 1946 he returned to his hometown of Zeulenroda. In 1952 he received a major order from the Museum der Natur Gotha to design all large dioramas, the wall paintings in the stairwell and the four large-format wall paintings in the foyer. He then designed the diorama backgrounds in the Reichenfels- Hohenleuben Museum . Commissions from scientific publishers followed, and numerous reproductions of his paintings appeared in hunting magazines, in animal and hunting calendars, and on postcards. His exact, lifelike representation was particularly valued in the 1960s when he was commissioned by Kindler-Verlag to work as one of the main illustrators on the 13-volume encyclopedic work of Grzimek's Animal Life .

Reimann worked with unbroken creativity until old age. His oil paintings and watercolors can hardly be counted. His works can be found in museums and with private collectors. With his work he contributed to the promotion of the understanding of our flora and fauna.

reception

In 1996 a large Reimann retrospective took place in the Museum der Natur Gotha, which was then taken over by the Tambach Castle Hunting and Fishing Museum . After Reimann's death, the city of Zeulenroda made him an honorary citizen.

literature

• Ingrid Schamscha-Küpper: The animal and hunting painter Friedrich Reimann . Leipzig 1996, ISBN 3-361-00463-2