Fritz Steisslinger

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Fritz Steisslinger, self-portrait, 1950

Fritz Steisslinger (born August 2, 1891 in Göppingen ; † March 16, 1957 in Tübingen ) was a German artist of expressive realism .

Training and First World War

Steisslinger completed an apprenticeship as a metal engraver at WMF and then went to the arts and crafts school in Munich and the academy there. He worked at times as a craft designer. From 1911 to 1914 he studied in Rome and Venice ; there, after his teacher C. de Maria fell ill, he took over the leadership of his nude class. Steisslinger was friends with Gian Franco Malipiero during this time . The studies were interrupted by Steisslinger's military service in the First World War , which he performed in Russia and France. He was wounded several times.

Family life, the interwar period and World War II

In 1919 he married Elisabeth Hassis, with whom he had the sons Eberhard (1920–2006), Hans (1922–1947) and Werner (1923–1945). After his marriage he lived as a freelance painter in Seeburg , where he created the memorial on the Burgberg on behalf of the Warburg family .

The works of this time are colorful, expressive and already shaped by the New Objectivity . The tendency towards mythological topics, which he had preferred after his training with Franz von Stuck , receded.

In 1920 he traveled to Venice and South Tyrol , in 1922 he and his family moved into a house they designed themselves in Böblingen . At that time, the building on the Tannenberg was still outside the city. The top floor of the cubic building served Steisslinger as a studio; Here he painted numerous city and landscape views from his surroundings, but also the notables of the city.

The subjects of his painting during this time were also mainly portraits of his family members and self-portraits. The expressionist influences receded more and more. Around 1925 he turned increasingly to landscape painting.

He became a member of the Stuttgart Secession and had contacts with Heinrich Altherr , Reinhold Nägele , Alfred Lörcher and Hermann Sohn , among others . In 1924 a trip to Berlin followed , which made further contacts, for example with Willy Jaeckel and Cassirer. Steisslinger visited Venice again in 1925. In the same year he took a trip on the Danube from Ulm to Budapest in a folding boat and also toured the Engadine . He visited Berlin again in 1926, followed by a trip to the Rhine in 1928.

From 1929 to 1931 he lived with his family in Berlin-Charlottenberg; from here he made several trips to Usedom , Hiddensee and Grömitz . During this time I made contact with Max Liebermann , Alfred Flechtheim , Alfred Kerr and Julius Meyer-Gräfe . In 1934 he traveled to Brazil , in the following years to Alsace , Switzerland and, for the purpose of visiting the world exhibition, Paris .

Drawings, portraits and expressive city and landscape images were created in Berlin. Particularly noteworthy are the small-format, bright images of the Baltic Sea.

The plan to travel to Brazil a second time and perhaps even to move there failed when the Second World War broke out . Steisslinger was reinstated in this war as well and served in France and Russia from 1940 to 1943. The house in Böblingen was damaged during the war and many of the pictures that were there were destroyed or lost.

Steisslinger's works were not defamed as Degenerate Art , but during the time of National Socialism he only appeared little public.

post war period

In 1946 Steisslinger was appointed by Theodor Heuss to the planning committee of the State Academy of Fine Arts; associated with this was a professorship at this academy. Steisslinger was also the first chairman of the re-established Stuttgart Secession.

In 1948 the second trip to Brazil was possible. Steisslinger gave up his professorship and stayed in Brazil until 1950, which he later toured several times. Eberhard, the only one of his three sons who had survived the Second World War and its aftermath, now lived there. In addition to Brazil, Steisslinger also traveled to Chile and Peru in the post-war period , but from 1951 he had his permanent residence again in Böblingen. The tropical colors of South America continue to have a strong influence on all of his late works. The works from this last creative period are extensive and sketchy; Steisslinger now transferred techniques that were more reserved for watercolors to oil painting and used formats for his gouaches that were traditionally more used for oil paintings. At the beginning of 1957, Steisslinger, who was only now seeing his heyday, suffered a stroke , which he commented on with the succinct words: Now I've just painted a few pictures less. He died a little later from the consequences of this illness.

Works and aftermath

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Fritz Steisslinger took part in numerous exhibitions during his lifetime, but the first overview of his works did not come about until after his death. The public's attention was drawn to Steisslinger's works, in particular through exhibitions on the occasion of the 100th birthday. In addition to the plastic works, Steisslinger left 364 oil paintings , 494 watercolors and gouaches as well as numerous sketches, drawings and prints.

A cross-section of Steisslinger's work can be seen in the permanent exhibition of the Böblingen Municipal Gallery. Numerous other works are located in the Fritz-Steisslinger-Haus in Böblingen. Fritz-Steisslinger-Straße in Böblingen was named after the artist.

The exhibition Longing for Brazil took place from March 14 to August 1, 2010 in the Städtische Galerie Böblingen , after which it went to the Brazilian embassy in Berlin.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Steisslinger, Fritz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH Goeppingen
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1957
Place of death Tübingen