Gustav Rockholtz

Gustav Rockholtz (born August 20, 1869 in Witten , † September 4, 1938 in Stockach ) was a German painter .

Rockholtz was a journeyman painter from Witten and was inspired by German Impressionism in the art centers of Berlin and Munich towards the end of the 19th century. He traveled via Italy to the Orient, where light-flooded and colorful snapshots were taken. The pictures that Rockholtz painted from 1903 in Cairo and while traveling through Upper Egypt and Palestine bear witness to the artistic engagement with Max Liebermann , Lovis Corinth and Max Slevogt . As a German, Rockholtz was civilly imprisoned in Malta from 1914 to 1919. He spent the last 20 years of his life in Stockach . Rockholtz captured his last home in numerous paintings that document a cityscape long past. Idyllic Lake Constance landscapes and travel impressions from Ticino complement the late work.

Life

Gustav Rockholtz came in 1869 as the child of the glassmaker Wilhelm Rockholtz and his wife Ida, b. Schürmann, to the world. After leaving school, he completed an apprenticeship as a painter: Gustav Rockholtz was referred to as an apprentice and painter in the address books of the city of Witten in 1887. His name was last mentioned there in 1890. After his military service, Rockholtz went traveling. In the last years of the 19th century Rockholtz trained as a painter in Berlin and Munich: he studied for three years at the art academy in Munich and then continued his education in Italy.

In 1903 at the latest he went to the Orient and lived mainly in Egypt until 1914 . He is said to have mastered six or seven languages, including Arabic . Rockholtz met his future wife, Maria Jud, at the German Club in Cairo: Maria, who was born in Schussenried on April 6, 1884 , was employed by a relative in Cairo in a boarding house. Gustav Rockholtz and Maria Jud married on January 5, 1911 in Nice during a trip to southern Europe. Presumably the Rockholtz 'ran their household in Cairo between 1911 and 1914. Photos show the couple on their travels. The rarely dated paintings, which give evidence of the painter's stay, not only focus on Cairo but also Assouan in Upper Egypt.

The First World War ended the phase of life in the Orient. Gustav Rockholtz was interned in Malta because of his nationality and spent five years in civil imprisonment. His wife Maria, who had been expelled from Egypt, returned to Germany with a suitcase full of pictures of her husband. Since the mother and several sisters now lived in Stockach, the place also became their new home. After the prison camp in La Valletta on Malta was closed in 1919, Gustav Rockholtz was able to travel to his wife shortly before Christmas of the same year.

The couple lived mainly on Kaufhausstrasse. The sons Walter (April 17, 1921) and Rudi the Elder came to Stockach. J. (February 28, 1924). The Rockholtz family lived extremely modestly: Gustav Rockholtz contributed to the family's livelihood by selling his paintings. He also gave drawing lessons now and then. But art alone could not make a living in difficult economic times. Among other things, he is said to have traded paintings for food. The artist died on September 4, 1938 at the age of 69 in Stockach. His wife bequeathed several of her husband's paintings to the city on March 16, 1940. The Gustav-Rockholtz-Weg was named after him in Stockach.

Works

In his artistic work, Gustav Rockholtz concentrated in numerous watercolors and oil paintings primarily on landscape painting.

In the early work of the painter, in addition to still lifes , the focus was on north German motifs and impressions from his stays in Berlin , Munich and Rome .

As a result of the almost ten-year stay in Egypt, numerous trips through the Middle East and southern Europe, colorful and light-flooded snapshots were created. The nearly fifty works that have survived show mainly motifs from Cairo , Assouan and Phylae as well as Jerusalem .

After five years of imprisonment in Malta, Gustav Rockholtz was allowed to travel to his wife in Stockach before Christmas 1919. Here the artist developed an enormous productivity. Of the more than 160 preserved pictures, which were created between 1920 and his death in 1938, around one hundred of the watercolors and oil paintings deal with Stockach, its immediate surroundings and the Lake Constance landscape. In addition to occasional still lifes and portraits, Rockholtz also expanded his late work as a result of some trips through motifs from the Black Forest and Ticino.

Exhibitions

• 1991: Adler Post community center , Stockach, Gustav Rockholtz.
• 2005: Stadtmuseum Stockach , From Orient to Lake Constance - The Stockach painter Gustav Rockholtz (1869–1938), catalog: Istas, Yvonne: From Orient to Lake Constance. The Stockach painter Gustav Rockholtz (1869–1938) , catalog for the exhibition of the same name Stockach, Stadtmuseum im Alten Forstamt, June 18 to October 1, 2005. Konstanz , 2005. ISBN 3-00-015988-6

literature

• Yvonne Istas: From the Orient to Lake Constance . The Stockach painter Gustav Rockholtz (1869–1938) , catalog for the exhibition of the same name Stockach, Stadtmuseum im Alten Forstamt, June 18 to October 1, 2005. Konstanz, Stadtmuseum, Stockach 2005, ISBN 3-00-015988-6 .
• Yvonne Istas, Thomas Warndorf: Stockacher reading book. 725 years of history and stories , Konstanz, Stadtmuseum, Stockach 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-026227-2 .

Web links

Commons : Gustav Rockholtz  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• City of Stockach: From the Orient to Lake Constance. The painter Gustav Rockholtz from Stockach
• Südkurier: The painter Gustav Rockholtz paid his rent with pictures

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Yvonne Istas: From the Orient to Lake Constance. The painter Gustav Rockholtz (1869–1938) from Stockach . Constance 2005