Fritz Huhnen
Fritz Huhnen
Photographer: unknown
Link to the photo
(please note copyrights )
Friedrich Wilhelm Huhnen , called Fritz Huhnen (born December 26, 1895 in Krefeld , † December 15, 1981 in Willich ), was a German painter , illustrator and set designer .
Life
Fritz Huhnen was the oldest of four children of the married couple Johann Heinrich (1863–1942) and Luise Huhnen, née. Lürenbaum (1865–1941), who had a bakery in Krefeld.
After finishing school, Huhnen completed an architecture apprenticeship from 1911 at the request of his parents and then attended the arts and crafts school in Krefeld and the Düsseldorf art school . From 1915 he worked as a freelance painter in Krefeld. During the First World War Huhnen was in the Battle of Verdun wounded and therefore as a scene painter in front theater in the 50km north of Verdun situated Montmédy ( Lorraine used). This was followed by employment as a war painter in Bjarosa, Belarus .
After the end of the war, Huhnens first exhibition took place in 1919 in the Krefeld book and art shop Greven. Like Helmuth Macke , Ewald Mataré , Heinrich Nauen and Otto Pankok , Huhnen had also become a member of the artists' association Das Junge Rheinland . In 1921 he was represented with several expressionist works at the association's exhibition in Düsseldorf . Huhnen also became a member of the avant-garde Krefeld Society for New Art . This was followed by an exhibition in the Alfred Flechtheim gallery in Düsseldorf . During this time, Huhnen was in close contact with artist colleagues such as Heinrich Campendonk , Johan Thorn-Prikker , and Max Creutz .
From 1924 he was also active as a set designer and artistic adviser for the Stadttheater Krefeld (until his death) and from 1926 to 1973 he also worked as a draftsman of picture stories with small texts for the Generalanzeiger and the Westdeutsche Zeitung . In 1930, the acquired Kaiser Wilhelm Museum some of his works in 1937 by the Nazis for propaganda instrumentalized exhibition Degenerate Art were exhibited in Munich. Chicken has not exhibited since 1933, but otherwise remained unmolested by the regime.
During the Second World War , Krefeld was bombed several times by the Allies. The heaviest attack took place on the night of June 21-22, 1943 by the Royal Air Force . Both the theater and Huhnen's private apartment were destroyed in this attack, and all of his works that had been created up to this point and were stored in both locations were destroyed. From his creative period before 1943, only the few works that Huhnen had already sold or given away until then have survived. Since the theater and apartment in Krefeld had been destroyed, Huhnen and the theater company went to Hirschberg in Lower Silesia for a few months , but when he returned he was drafted into military service in the last months of the war and was eventually taken prisoner by the British , from which he was in the summer of 1945 has already been released. In 1947 Huhnen joined the Munich artists' association Neue Gruppe and worked as a freelance artist in Krefeld.
Works (selection)
- 1923: Edgar Allan Poe : Hop-Frog . Fantastic Tale , Westermann Verlag, Braunschweig (illustrations)
- 1955: Author of the book Gute, Böse und Krefelder
- 1975: Christian Morgenstern : Palmström , Krefelder Kunstverein, (illustrations)
- 1978: Nikolai Wassiljewitsch Gogol : The coat , Krefelder Kunstverein, (illustrations)
- 1980: Franz Kafka : The Metamorphosis , Krefelder Kunstverein, (illustrations)
In addition to book illustrations, picture stories, stage sets, etc. Huhnen also created works in public spaces in Krefeld. From 1950 onwards, various wall paintings were created . He also created a tapestry for a school in 1962 .
Honors
In 1961, Huhnen received the Thorn Prikker plaque of honor , the city of Krefeld's highest award in the field of art. On his 70th birthday in 1965 he was the first to receive the city plaque of honor, followed in 1966 by the honor plate of the city of Krefeld. Chickens were buried in a grave of honor at the Krefeld main cemetery , with great sympathy among the population . In Krefeld, Fritz-Huhnen-Strasse was also named in his honor.
literature
- Elisabeth Erdmann-Macke : Encounters. edited and annotated with biographical overviews by Margarethe Jochimsen and Hildegard Reinhardt , Kerber, Bielefeld 2009, ISBN 978-3-86678-292-1 .
- Chicken, Fritz . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 2 : E-J . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1955, p. 505 .
- Sylvia Görke: Huhnen, Fritz . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 75, de Gruyter, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-023180-9 , p. 430.
Web links
- Information about Fritz Huhnen at kultur-in-krefeld.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g Information on Fritz Huhnen at kultur-in-krefeld.de.
- ^ Elisabeth Kremers: The night when Krefeld went under - June 22, 1943: German cities in the bombing war. Wartberg, 1st edition 2003, ISBN 978-3-8313-1339-6 .
- ↑ Photo of the grave for Fritz Huhnen (small plate on the left)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Chicken, Fritz |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Huhnen, Friedrich Wilhelm (correct name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German painter, illustrator and set designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 26, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Krefeld |
| DATE OF DEATH | 15th December 1981 |
| Place of death | I want to |