Fritz Wolff (painter)

Fritz Wolff (born January 22, 1831 in Elberfeld (today a district of Wuppertal ); † July 6, 1895 there ; full name: Friedrich Wilhelm Wolff ) was a German teacher and painter .

Fritz Wolff was a drawing teacher who was recognized both in his hometown of Elberfeld and internationally, who on the one hand gained fame with finely painted landscape depictions in the style of the late romantic view based on careful detailed studies of nature in the tradition of Düsseldorf landscape painting , on the other hand with portraits of his personalities Time and his living environment.

Life

childhood

Fritz Wolff was born on Saturday, January 22nd, 1831 as the son of the silk weaver Johann Peter Wolff and his wife Wilhelmina Eck in Elberfeld (today Wuppertal-Elberfeld). Witnesses were the 27-year-old house painter Ludwig Kreutzmann and the 27-year-old tailor Wilhelm Dettmann, who signed the birth entry in the registry office register no. 84/1831 together with the alderman of the Elberfeld community, Peter Boeddinghaus.

Training from 1847

With financial support from a wealthy Elberfeld art lover who was not known by name, Fritz Wolff studied history painting with Carl Ferdinand Sohn and Theodor Hildebrandt at the Düsseldorf Art Academy from 1847 to 1851 . He also attended Rudolf Wiegmann's construction class . Because of his achievements, he was awarded a scholarship that enabled him to go on a study trip to Italy from 1854 to 1855. In Rome he was in contact with Anselm Feuerbach and Hans von Marées, among others . Fritz Wolff is one of the initiators of the artists' association Malkasten , which was founded in Düsseldorf on August 6, 1848 and to which he belonged until 1864.

Professional and artistic career from 1864

From 1864 Fritz Wolff worked as a teacher at various schools in Elberfeld, until in 1870 he was employed as a drawing teacher at the commercial drawing school in his hometown, which he held for a very long period. During this time he devoted himself mainly to his educational tasks and also gave private drawing lessons for the Elberfeld upper middle class. In addition, Wolff came out primarily with landscapes and as a portrait painter. In addition to numerous personalities from his environment, he portrayed z. B. the Cologne cathedral builder Mohr .

family

Fritz Wolff was married to Johanne Saltzmann and had at least one son Fritz, who was a trainee lawyer at the time of his father's death. The family lived in Elberfeld on Bleichstrasse. Fritz Wolff, referred to as a painter and drawing teacher in the death register no. 1335/1895, died before his wife on July 6, 1895 in his apartment in Elberfeld.

Works

Few of Fritz Wolff's works are in the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal, the portraits he made are probably still in the possession of the families, and some of the works were privately owned at auctions. The following works are known:

• Horses under trees , privately owned
• Rhine landscape with Apollinari church near Remagen , 1869, oil on canvas, 72 × 93 cm
• Self-portrait , undated, canvas on cardboard, 27 × 22 cm
• Portrait: Franz Wicküler (founder of the Wicküler brewery founded in 1845 )
• Portrait: Mrs. Franz Wicküler, b. Wilhelmine Hildebrandt
• Portrait: Mrs. Karl Schmitz
• Portrait: Carl Schmitz
• Portrait: Mrs. Carl Schmitz
• Portrait: Grethe Schmitz
• Portraits of the four Steinhaus brothers (Wuppertal singer quartet)
• Portrait: the painter Heinrich von Dörnberg , 1851
• Portrait: Portrait of Mrs. Luise Sankelmann , 1880

literature

• From the history of the artists' association “Malkasten”, to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary. 1814-1898. Page 14
• Catalog for the exhibition of Elberfeld family portraits in the Städtisches Museum, Elberfeld 1907, page 28
• Hausmann, Otto: The painting and related arts in Wuppertal. In: Festschrift for the three-century celebration 1910, Elberfeld 1910, pages 531–532.
• Thieme-Becker Vol. 36, 1947, page 197
• Von der Heydt-Museum Wuppertal: Catalog of the paintings of the 19th century. Wuppertal 1974, pages 258-259.
• Art and Museum Association Wuppertal, exhibition catalog "Art stories: Art and artists in Wuppertal 1860–1940". Wuppertal 1992, page 16
• Hans Paffrath (Ed.): Lexicon of the Düsseldorf School of Painting 1819–1918. Volume 3: Nabert-Zwecker. Published by the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the Ehrenhof and by the Paffrath Gallery. Bruckmann, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-7654-3011-0 , pp. 446-447.
• Heidermann, Horst: Wuppertal on the way to becoming an art city - a bold attempt fails. In: Romerike Berge 51 (2001), issue 1, page 5
• Städtisches Museum Wuppertal, catalog of paintings and sculptures, 1939, page 100
• One hundred years of the artists' association Malkasten, Düsseldorf 1848–1948, Düsseldorf 1948, p. 19.

Web links

• West German Journal for History and Art, Volume 19, 1900, page 422
• Journal of the Bergisches Geschichtsverein, volumes 60-61, 1931, page 156