Fritz Matthies-Masuren

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Friedrich August Franz Matthies-Masuren (born February 12, 1873 in Insterburg , East Prussia , † September 10, 1938 in Berlin ) was a German painter , art photographer and publicist . As an important representative of Pictorialism , he published numerous texts in magazines and books , most of which he himself was the editor .

Live and act

Way to art photography

Fritz Matthies-Masuren grew up as the son of a building inspector in good circumstances until the 1890s, probably on a former manor in Arensdorf (East Prussia) that belonged to his parents. In 1894 he enrolled at the Grand Ducal Baden Academy of Fine Arts , where he passed through various artist classes under Leopold von Kalckreuth until 1896 . His early works, including etchings and lithographs in addition to chalk paintings, already show a tendency towards landscapes and portraits.

From 1896 Matthies-Masuren found photography . For his first attempts, which were exhibited at the "International Exhibition for Amateur Photography", he received a bronze medal. The jury included the director of the Hamburger Kunsthalle , Alfred Lichtwark and Ernst Juhl , President of the “Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography” in Hamburg and publisher of the renowned magazine “ Photographische Rundschau ”.

First successes

His photographs were subsequently exhibited in numerous exhibitions for amateur photography , for which he was particularly strong. He was also represented in several art exhibitions with paintings, etchings and lithographs. Matthies-Masuren was appointed a foreign member by the Hamburg "Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography" and praised by its President Juhl for his contribution to the establishment of art photography . So he wrote in the Photographische Rundschau in 1897 : "Matthies-Masuren with its excellent portraits and landscapes, which are reminiscent of Thoma's art, whose birthplace and country are also reproduced, has made considerable progress since last year."

Establishment of amateur photography

In October 1897, Matthies-Masuren moved to Munich . The “Photographische Centralblatt”, previously published by Otto Nemnich in Karlsruhe , was published in 1898 with a new look by Georg DW Callwey in Munich. Matthies-Masuren took over the management and picture editing of the biweekly magazine, for which the requirement now applied was to be an “art magazine for amateur and art photography”. But the goal was also "to turn the professional photographer, the henchman, into an artist." Matthies-Masuren shared this claim with the Hamburgers Lichtwark and Juhl, as well as the American art photographer Alfred Stieglitz. In the same year he began to write for “Photographische Mitteilungen”, which also published reproductions of his photographs.

Turn away from Hamburg society in favor of Vienna

At the end of 1898, Matthies-Masuren turned more and more to the Viennese artists around Hans Watzek , Hugo Henneberg and Heinrich Kühn (“ Wiener Kleeblatt ”), who were responsible for the event, which he organized for the first time in Munich with the title “I. International Elite Exhibition of Artistic Photographs ”were strongly represented. In addition, a dispute broke out between the “Photographische Rundschau” and the “Centralblatt” headed by Matthies-Masuren, in which he proclaimed that the well-established annual exhibition in the Hamburger Kunsthalle had deviated from the right path, an opinion that the “Rundschau” and the Hamburg colleagues did not, of course, share. As a result, Matthies-Masuren's membership in the Hamburg “Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography” was terminated in 1899.
However, Matthies-Masuren did not lose weight. On the contrary. The union of the “Centralblatt” and the “Wiener Photographischen Blätter”, which already served as the organ of the world-famous “Wiener Camera-Klub”, expanded its range of distribution even further.

Promotion of rubber printing and expanding influence

From 1900, Matthies-Masuren promoted rubber printing in particular as a technically demanding and artistically valuable method of art photography. He organized an exhibition in Berlin for pictures of the “Viennese clover leaf” produced with this method and later dedicated a magnificent volume to them in the renowned Wilhelm Knapp Verlag in Halle an der Saale . The "Centralblatt" - and thus its publisher Matthies-Masuren - moved there in 1902. In the same year he also took over the management of the publisher's monthly magazine “Das Atelier des Photographen”, which was aimed at professional photographers.

When his competitor Ernst Juhl expressed himself very positively in 1902 about the controversial, heavily retouched photographs by the American Edward Steichen , the latter was forced to resign from his position as editor of the “Photographische Rundschau” after violent recantations by several photography associations. Again, Matthies-Masuren, who had spoken out against manual retouching in previous years, benefited from the situation. The renewed merger of the newly acquired magazine with the "Centralblatt" expanded his sphere of influence again.

Back to the roots

In 1903, when, according to Ernst Juhl, art photography had already passed its zenith, which was to be expressed in the following years by a certain “exhibition fatigue”, Matthies-Masuren took up the approaches that Henry Peach Robinson 1869 in his book Pictorial Effect in Photography being Hints on Composition and Chiaroscuro for Photographers , and formulated the guidelines for a "pictorial photography" in his own book. In it he again made the higher demands that artistic photography should have compared to ordinary: the art photographer - like a visual artist - has to express himself as a “whole person” in his work through additional practices and techniques.

Decline of "artistic photography"

Matthies-Masuren continued to publish texts in photography magazines until the First World War and organized several exhibitions, but only as a participant. The originally elitist art photography movement, as it was established in the 1890s, increasingly lost its profile. In 1907, Matthies-Masuren published an overview-like volume entitled Artistic Photography. Development and influence in Germany . The journalistic presence of artistic photography was further reduced when in 1912 the “Rundschau” merged with the “Photographische Mitteilungen”, which had existed since 1864. In 1914, Matthies-Masuren left his entire collection of art photographs on loan from the library of the Berlin Museum of Applied Arts . A year later he was called up for military service.

stagnation

After the war, the " Society of German Photographers " was founded in Eisenach , which Matthies-Masuren joined in 1922. The following year he married Charlotte Bartels, who was 23 years his junior, but marital happiness was offset by professional stagnation. In a letter to Heinrich Kühn, his American colleague Alfred Stieglitz expressed himself disparagingly about the editorial team of the “Photographische Rundschau und Mitteilungen” headed by Matthies-Masuren. outdated u. The 'Rundschau' is dead despite your essays. The illustrations are abysmally bad - without the slightest significance. ”In
1924, the“ Friends of the Library of the Kunstgewerbe-Museum in Berlin ”Matthies-Masuren finally bought his collection for 500 gold marks and donated it to the library, where it has been preserved to this day.

Nazi propaganda and death

Shortly after the magazine “Das Atelier des Photographen” in 1933 with the title “Nutz-Photographie. The photo in the service of reportage, advertising, industry, illustration, science, art and technology ”had been given a new coat of paint, in October of the same year the NSDAP passed the editors' law, which made independent, free art and criticism practically impossible. Matthies-Masuren remained in all of his offices, but had hardly written any more since the early 1930s. As one can see from an election call that was friendly to the Nazi party in the “Nutz-Photography” in 1936, Matthies-Masuren submitted to the propaganda directed by Joseph Goebbels . In April 1938 he gave up the editing of the “Rundschau und Mitteilungen” for health reasons before moving to Berlin, where he died on September 10th - his illness was meanwhile well advanced.

Publications

Matthies-Masuren (M.-M.) published numerous texts in specialist journals and, as editor and photo editor, was responsible for a growing number of titles:

  • Photographisches Centralblatt: M.-M. has been the picture editor of the fortnightly magazine at DW Callwey in Munich since January 1898.
  • Association of the Photographisches Centralblatt with the Wiener Photographische Blätter, which has been an organ of the Vienna Camera Club since 1894. The merger is decided in 1899, M.-M. remains senior picture editor.
  • After the Centralblatt's relocation to Wilhelm Knapp Verlag in Halle an der Saale, M.-M. continued his editorial work.
  • The photographer's studio. Journal for Photography and Reproduction Technology: M.-M. As of July 1902, takes over the editorial and picture editing of the monthly magazine, which is also published by Knapp Verlag.
  • The Photographische Rundschau: M.-M. from 1903 is the picture editor of the magazine, also published by Wilhelm Knapp. In 1904 the two of M.-M. directed papers “Rundschau” and “Centralblatt”.
  • Photographic review and communications. M.-M. has been the editor of the magazine since 1912, which was published by Photographische Verlagsgesellschaft mb H./Halle a. S. appears. The magazine is the union of Photographischer Rundschau and Photographisches Centralblatt with the Photographische Mitteilungen, which has been published in Berlin since 1864. On April 1, 1938, M.-M. resigned from office for health reasons.
  • Under the title commercial photography. The photograph in the service of reportage, advertising, industry, illustration, science, art and technology will be continued in the photographer's studio after renaming and changing the format. M.-M. was in charge until his death in September 1938.

In addition, Matthies-Masuren published these volumes:

  • Rubber prints by Hugo Henneberg - Vienna, Heinrich Kühn - Innsbruck and Hans Watzek - Vienna, Wilhelm Knapp, Halle a. P. 1902.
  • Photographic art in 1902 (until 1913). A yearbook for artistic photography, Wilhelm Knapp, Halle a. S.
  • The pictorial photography, Wilhelm Knapp, Halle a. S. 1903. (Several new editions, some of which have been changed, follow, in 1905 under the title Die bildmäßige Photography. A collection of art photographs with accompanying text in German and Dutch, which also contains four themed issues published by Knapp in the previous year and was last reprinted in 1912 )
  • Artistic photography. Development and influence in Germany when 59/60. Volume of the series Die Kunst by Richard Muther, Marquardt & Co., Berlin 1907.
  • The portrait. A museum for the portrait photographer, four-part booklet series published by Wilhelm Knapp Verlag, 1909–1911.

Exhibitions

Matthies-Masuren tried not only to promote amateur photography, but also professional photography , which was supposed to be based on that in terms of artistic standards, in addition to his editorial work through numerous exhibitions. In doing so, he was often in charge or jointly responsible, or - as increasingly towards the end of his career - a member of the selection committee. At the beginning, Matthies-Masuren was often represented himself with his own photographs, and his early artistic works from his time at the art college in Karlsruhe were also shown at art exhibitions. The following overview shows the most important stations:

  • 1896: "International Exhibition for Amateur Photography" in the Reichstag building in Berlin
  • 1897: “Quatrième Année Salon de Photographie” of the Photo-Club de Paris in the Galerie des Champs Elysées in Paris ; "Fifth annual exhibition of the Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography" in the Kunsthalle zu Hamburg
  • 1898: "I. International Elite Exhibition of Artistic Photography ”in Munich, for the first time also in a leading position
  • 1899: "First traveling exhibition of artistic photographs in Germany and Austria". It will be shown in 16 cities until June 1900, including Vienna, Dresden , Berlin and Salzburg .
  • 1903: Cooperation between the editorial offices of Matthies-Masurens Magazines and the Wiesbaden Society for Fine Arts to organize the “First International Exhibition for Artistic Portrait Photography” in Wiesbaden , Breslau , Krefeld , Hagen , Düsseldorf and Berlin
  • 1904: Head of the German department of the World Exhibition in St. Louis , together with Franz Goerke , the director of Urania in Berlin ; "Great Berlin Art Exhibition"; "First International Salon of Art Photography" in The Hague , member of the selection committee
  • 1910: Commissioner for amateur photography at the world exhibition in Brussels, together with Theodor Hofmeister and Eduard Weingärtner, "Great Berlin Art Exhibition"
  • 1914: "Collection on the history and technology of artistic photography", in the library of the Berlin Museum of Applied Arts
  • After the First World War he took part in exhibitions several times as a member of the Society of German Photographers

u. a. m.

Quotes

“The amateur stands before nature and art with different eyes and different feelings when he has learned to understand that ordinary photography is just an ingenious invention, that it is simply not possible without the exertion of all forces, of the whole person Size, the richness, the life of nature to represent that a few strokes by an artist (not a 'painter') express more than the apparently finished copies [sic!] Of a negative, no matter how good. "

- Fritz Matthies-Masuren : 1905

“There is also not a trace of bondage in the other portraits. These heads, recorded in the one-sided light of a painting studio, can serve as a role model for a lot of good. "

- Friedrich Behrens-Rogasen : on Fritz Matthies-Masurens photography, 1897

“He is the first who consciously strived for completely new goals, initially of course broke with all the trimmings of today's portrait photography, the studio lighting, the painted backgrounds, the head holder, the leveling [sic!] Retouches. But with him it is not only the negative, but also really a strong talent that makes us believe, at least in every one of his photographs [sic!], That we can recognize the nature of what is depicted from it. He has the talent (probably also perfected through his painterly training) to find a characteristic position and to arrange what he wants to give in the space in such a way that we at least know about his artistic intention, how he wants the personality to be understood , can never be in the dark. "

- Richard Stettiner : on Fritz Matthies-Masuren, 1899

“A great service has been done to art. In our time of absolute chaos of opinions and endeavors in the field of art - in our case painting - this work sounds like the fanfare of a 'music of the future'. "

- ER Weiss : about a splendid volume published by Matthies-Masuren in 1902, 1903

“It was delightful to see with what feeling, taste and judgment the hanging of the Secession and of the Viennese collections had been accomplished, and how effectively each picture stood out by itself, at the same time harmonizing with the remainder of its group. All this was due to Mr. F. Matthies-Masuren, who had personally hung these two groups. "

- Alfred Stieglitz : on an exhibition organized by Matthies-Masuren, 1904

literature

  • Arning, Eduard in: Eleventh exhibition of art photographs in the Kunsthalle zu Hamburg , Hamburg, 1906.
  • Behrens-Rogasen, Friedrich: The international exhibition of artistic photographs in Hamburg , in: Photographische Mitteilungen, No. 15, 1897, p. 239.
  • Juhl, Ernst: Fifth international exhibition of art photography, organized by the Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography in the Kunsthalle zu Hamburg , in: Photographische Rundschau, No. 12, 1897.
  • Knapp, Ulrich: Heinrich Kühn. Photographs , Salzburg / Vienna 1988.
  • Kühn, Christine: Art photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003.
  • Matthies-Masuren, Fritz: Hamburg exhibition , in: Photographisches Centralblatt, No. 19, 1898.
  • Matthies-Masuren, Fritz: The pictorial photography , Wilhelm Knapp, Halle a. P. 1905.
  • Photographische Rundschau und Mitteilungen, No. 1, 1930.
  • Stettiner, Richard in: Franz Goerke (Ed.): The art in photography , Berlin 1899, p. 34f.
  • Stieglitz, Alfred in: Camera Work , No. 8, 1904, p. 34f.
  • Weiss, ER: 'Gummidrucke' by Hugo Henneberg - Vienna, Heinrich Kühn - Innsbruck, Hans Watzek - Vienna , in: The photographic art in 1903 , p. 69.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 10.
  2. ↑ a b see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 148.
  3. ^ Christine Kühn: Art photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren collection. Berlin 2003, p. 148 ff.
  4. ^ Christine Kühn: Art photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren collection. Berlin 2003, p. 150.
  5. ^ Ernst Juhl: Fifth international exhibition of art photography, organized by the Society for the Promotion of Amateur Photography in the Kunsthalle zu Hamburg. In: Photographische Rundschau, No. 12, 1897, p. 377.
  6. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 151f.
  7. ↑ a b c see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 17.
  8. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 152.
  9. ↑ See: Fritz Matthies-Masuren: Hamburg Exhibition , in: Photographisches Centralblatt, No. 19, 1898, pp. 378–384.
  10. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 21.
  11. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 157.
  12. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 163ff.
  13. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 167f.
  14. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 24.
  15. ↑ a b see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 35.
  16. ↑ Cf. Eduard Arning in: Eleventh exhibition of art photographs in the Kunsthalle zu Hamburg , Hamburg 1906, p. 4.
  17. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 169.
  18. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 180.
  19. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 181
  20. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 183.
  21. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, pp. 184f.
  22. ^ Alfred Stieglitz: Letter of August 15, 1923, quoted from Ulrich Knapp: Heinrich Kühn. Photographs , Salzburg / Vienna 1988, p. 167f.
  23. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 186.
  24. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, pp. 190f.
  25. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 50.
  26. ↑ see: Photographische Rundschau und Mitteilungen, Heft 1, 1930, p. 17.
  27. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 192.
  28. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 168ff.
  29. ↑ see: Christine Kühn: Art Photography around 1900. The Fritz Matthies-Masuren Collection , Berlin 2003, p. 152ff.
  30. ↑ Fritz Matthies-Masuren: The pictorial photography , Wilhelm Knapp, Halle a. P. 1905, p. 19.
  31. ^ Friedrich Behrens-Rogasen: The international exhibition of artistic photographs in Hamburg , in: Photographische Mitteilungen, Heft 15, 1897, p. 239.
  32. ^ Richard Stettiner in: Franz Goerke (ed.): The art in photography , Berlin 1899, p. 34f.
  33. ^ ER Weiss: 'Gummidrucke' by Hugo Henneberg - Vienna, Heinrich Kühn - Innsbruck, Hans Watzek - Vienna , in: The photographic art in 1903 , p. 69.
  34. ^ Alfred Stieglitz in: Camera Work , No. 8, 1904, p. 34f.
personal data
SURNAME Matthies-Masuren, Fritz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Matthies-Masuren, Friedrich August Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter, art photographer and publicist
DATE OF BIRTH February 12, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Insterburg , East Prussia
DATE OF DEATH September 10, 1938
Place of death Berlin