Georg Merkel (painter)

Georg Merkel (born June 5, 1881 in Lemberg , † November 24, 1976 in Vienna ) was an Austrian painter.

Life

Merkel, who came from a poor background, attended secondary school and then worked as a decorative painter. From 1903 to 1905 he studied at the Academy in Cracow, thanks to the support of a friend. From 1905 to 1908 and 1909 to 1914 he lived in Paris and was particularly influenced by the neoclassical artist Puvis de Chavannes .

When war broke out in 1914, Merkel volunteered for the Austrian army. Due to a severe head injury, he went blind for several months. The regaining of eyesight became the decisive experience that shaped his later art.

In the interwar period Merkel lived in Vienna and was a member of the " Hagenbund " and occasionally visited the " Zinkenbacher painter colony ". In 1938 he emigrated to France.

After the Second World War he lived partly in Paris, occasionally in Cagnes in the south of France, and in 1976 he moved back to Vienna. Georg Merkel was a member and later an honorary member of the “ Vienna Secession ” from 1945 , and received the City of Vienna Prize for Fine Art for 1961. He was married to the painter Louise Merkel-Romée (1888–1977).

In 1985, in the 22nd district of Vienna , the Merkel street named after him.

Elias Canetti reported in detail about his acquaintance with Merkel in the third part of his autobiography "Das Augenspiel" (1985).

Web links

• Merkel and the Zinkenbach painters' colony
• Honorary grave at the central cemetery - viennatouristguide.at

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Belvedere: Artists in Emigration , accessed on December 4, 2009