Hans Kruzwicki
Johannes ("Hans") Kruzwicki (born September 2, 1885 in Krefeld , † October 17, 1971 in Düsseldorf ) was a German painter of classical modernism. He was one of the progressive painters inclined to Rhenish Expressionism . In the post-war period, especially from the 1960s, his works tended increasingly towards abstraction, and towards the end of his creative period expressive-abstract religious motifs were found in his oeuvre.
ancestry
Hans Kruzwicki was the son of the blacksmith Carl Kruzwicki (1845–1921) from Budsin ( Kolmar i. Posen ) and Maria-Judith Schroers (1852–1933), who was born in the Lower Rhine region. Hans Kruzwicki had a younger brother, who died at the beginning of the First World War, and a sister who remained unmarried and who was employed by the city of Krefeld.
Life
Apprenticeship and first years of employment
Hans Kruzwicki attended the grammar school in Krefeld (today's Arndt grammar school) and passed his Abitur there in 1902. From 1902 to 1905 he attended a Catholic teacher training college in Exin ( Schubin district ). This was followed by art studies at the arts and crafts schools in Krefeld (now the Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences ) and the Düsseldorf Art Academy . The artist Jan (Johan) Thorn Prikker , who teaches in Krefeld and whose students also included Heinrich Campendonk , had a great influence on his works . Kruzwicki had a close friendship with both artists, and with Jan Thorn Prikker a long-lasting friendship. Other classmates of Kruzwicki were, besides Campendonk, Helmuth Macke , Heinrich Nauen and Wilhelm ("Will") Wieger . During his studies from 1905 to 1909, Kruzwicki was also temporarily in Antwerp and Amsterdam. After completing his studies, in October 1909 he took up his first position as a teacher for art education at the boarding school of the Rhenish Knight Academy in Bedburg, from which today's Silverberg Gymnasium emerged. From 1910 to 1918 he was a drawing teacher at the high school in Warburg and then until 1921 in the same position at the humanistic high school in Boppard . He showed his first own works in the exhibition Koblenz Artists from December 1919 to January 1920 in the hall of the old department store on Florinsmarkt . At the end of 1921, after the death of his father, Kruzwicki gave up his position as an art teacher at the grammar school in Boppard and worked from then on as a freelance artist.
First creative years in Boppard as a freelance artist
The artist, who lived in Boppard until 1924, created a series of brightly colored still lifes and landscape paintings among painters from the Middle Rhine. He also commuted to Koblenz, Düsseldorf and Krefeld as well as to numerous other places where he worked. In addition to still lifes with flowers, the motifs were mainly paintings from the Rhine, Hunsrück and Moselle regions, including motifs from idyllic forest areas as well as nearby towns with historical buildings. In 1921 Kruzwicki founded the Koblenz-based Künstlerbund Westmark with Hans Adamy , Ludwig Cauer , Heinrich Gesemann , Robert Gerstenkorn , Heinrich Hamm , Heinrich Hartung , Fritz Quant , Friedrich Karl Ströher , August Trümper and Louis Ziercke , among others . In 1922 Kruzwicki was a founding member of the artists' association Das Boot, which was also active in Koblenz . Other colleagues of this association were for example Herm Dienz , Hans Dornbach , Emil van Hauth and the artists Robert Gerstenkorn and Heinrich Hartung, who are also represented in the Künstlerbund Westmark . In the exhibitions organized by these artistic circles as well as the Mo-Ho-Hu-Kreis ( Mosel-Hochwald-Hunsrück Artists ’s Circle ), Kruzwicki was able to make his diverse work known to a wider public interested in art. His works stood out at that time due to the sensitive, delicate nerve of the drawing lines. He had a special friendship with the Koblenz painter Hanns Sprung , who was also a member of the Westmark and Das Boot artist associations .
Emergency notes
On some Rhenish emergency money bills from 1920 to 1923 there are repeated pictures that Kruzwicki made and signed. These are the 10 and 25 Pfennig notes from the city of Boppard dated December 31, 1920, each with a circulation of 100,000. A drawing of the Eberbacher Tor can be seen on the 10-pfennig notes and the Kurtrierische Burg with the Rhine facilities on the 25-pfennig notes. In July 1921, Kruzwicki's Madonna of Mercy was placed on the back of the 50-pfennig emergency money from Kamp-Bornhofen . Further pictures by Kruzwicki were used on the second series of emergency notes from Boppard in 1921, as well as for Bad Salzig and Krefeld .
Düsseldorf in the golden twenties
In 1924 Kruzwicki moved from Boppard to Düsseldorf and joined the artist colleagues who were resident there. With them he exhibited a work at the Great Düsseldorf Art Exhibition , which was on view in the summer of 1924 in Cologne's Messepalast. In the following years, which fell into the golden twenties , Kruzwicki repeatedly took part in well-known exhibitions as a member of the Düsseldorf art association Malkasten .
Artists in different places
In 1931 Kruzwicki moved to Krefeld with his family. In 1936 he went on a trip to the Moselle with his friend Hanns Sprung, who was director of the Koblenz museum in the castle during the Nazi era. The painting Beilstein was created along with others . In 1941 he separated from his wife and survived the remaining period of National Socialism , which was increasingly overshadowed by the effects of the Second World War , as Bohémien in Düsseldorf and Wehlen on the Moselle near Bernkastel-Kues . Kruzwicki's opportunities for development were limited during the Nazi era, as the styles he represented in the twenties fell under the collective term “ degenerate art ”, i.e. were not in line with the National Socialists' conception of art. Nevertheless, he managed to be represented with selected works at art exhibitions during the Nazi era.
After the end of the war, Kruzwicki met the Düsseldorf Higher Government Council and later Foreign Minister Gerhard Schröder , who was very interested in his art. From this a lasting friendship developed. Schröder acquired several paintings by Kruzwicki in the post-war years of hardship and the years of economic recovery and repeatedly invited him to his Atterdag holiday home in Sylt or took him on numerous trips to Italy, for example to the island of Capri , the northern Italian lakes or Ticino . From 1948 Kruzwicki lived in the studio house on Franz-Jürgens-Straße in Düsseldorf, where he created increasingly abstract paintings until the end of his life . In addition to religious motifs, he also participated in the creation of stage sets, such as for the masked ball at the carnival of the artists' association Malkasten Düsseldorf in the Kunstpalast Ehrenhof Düsseldorf. When he died in October 1971, his friend, the writer and poet Johannes Büchner , wrote an obituary in the form of a sensitive poem. At the funeral service in Düsseldorf, the retired Federal Foreign Minister was among the mourners. D. Gerhard Schröder present. The burial took place in the family grave in the Krefeld cemetery.
family
In 1914 Kruzwicki married the Krefeld merchant's daughter Erna Susanna Luechter (1892–1969). The sons Karl-Heinz Kruzwicki (1916–1963), Bernward Kruzwicki (1921–1940) and Elmar Kruzwicki (* 1935) emerged from the marriage. Kruzwicki's son Bernward was killed in 1940 as a marksman in the western campaign in France. In the same year Kruzwicki separated from his wife Erna. The official divorce from her did not take place until May 1947. In August 1947, Kruzwicki married his second wife Josephine ("Fine") Pyls (1917-1986).
Exhibitions
Hans Kruzwicki took part in the following art exhibitions, although the following list does not claim to be complete:
- Dec. 1919: Koblenz art exhibition in the hall of the historic department store on Florinsmarkt with the oil painting Sunset on the Rhine
- May 1921: Koblenz Homeland Weeks, traveling exhibition of paintings by the Westmark Artists Association . Several paintings with splendid Rhineland landscapes
- June 1921: Local festival and exhibition at Traben-Trarbach with some "excellently composed oil paintings"
- Oct. 1921: Traveling exhibition of the Mo-Ho-Hu association (Mosel, Hochwald, Hunsrück) in the Provincial Museum Trier together with paintings by Hans Adamy, Robert Gerstenkorn and Hanns Sprung
- 1922: Exhibition of the Art Museum Düsseldorf in the courtyard with the painting Erftlandschaft
- 1922: Summer exhibition of Koblenz artists in the art and furniture store Bernd in Koblenz with several still lifes and landscapes, including the steamer at Boppard
- Sep 1922: Exhibition of the Künstlerbund Westmark in the Berlin Künstlerhaus in Bellevuestrasse
- Dec. 1922: First exhibition of the artist group Das Boot eV in the art and furniture store Bernd, Koblenz
- Dec. 1923: Exhibition of the artist group Das Boot eV in the Hotel Esplanade, Koblenz
- June 1924: Exhibition by the artist group Das Boot eV in the foyer of the Koblenz City Theater
- July 1924: Large Düsseldorf art exhibition in the Messepalast Cologne with the oil painting Bridge in Subiaco (Italy)
- Nov. 1924: Art exhibition in the Autofag house in Simeonstrasse in Trier
- Nov. 1924: Exhibition of the artist group Das Boot eV in the municipal festival hall in Koblenz
- May 1925: Large art exhibition at the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the courtyard of honor with the oil painting Waldweg in the contemporary art department
- 1926: Exhibition of the Art Museum Düsseldorf in the courtyard with the oil painting Still Life I (Flowers)
- 1930: Art exhibition in the Provincial Museum Trier ( Juna Düsseldorf )
- 1931: Düsseldorf artist in the City Museum Villa Obernier in Bonn
- 1940: Rhenish art exhibition in Berlin, oil painting Beilstein on the Moselle
- 1941: Rhenish art exhibition in Vienna, oil painting Beilstein on the Moselle
- Oct. 1941: Exhibition of Düsseldorf artists in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the courtyard with the oil painting Field Flowers
- Dec. 1942: Winter exhibition of Düsseldorf artists in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the courtyard with the oil painting Field Flowers
- Dec. 1943: Düsseldorf artist in Florence in the Espositione Palazzo Strozzi, oil painting floral still life
- March 1946: Art exhibition with works by Hans Schroers and Hans Kruzwicki in the Hella Nebelung gallery in Düsseldorf
- Oct. 1946: First major art exhibition in Arnsberg with oil paintings Paris , forest and still life with flowers
- September 1947: Düsseldorf art exhibition of the city of Düsseldorf and the Düsseldorf artists' body with the oil painting Still Life with Magnolias
- May 1948: Second Rhine / Ruhr art exhibition in Arnsberg with painting, graphics and sculpture. Organizer: District President Fritz Fries
- 1952: Large Christmas exhibition of the visual artists of the Rhineland, Westphalia and Düsseldorf with the oil painting still life blue background
- July 1953: Exhibition of contemporary Düsseldorf artists in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the courtyard of honor with the oil painting Still Life
- Dec. 1953: Large Christmas exhibition of the artists of the Rhineland and Westphalia in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the courtyard with the oil painting Still Life
- Dec. 1955: Christmas exhibition of the artists of the Rhineland and Westphalia in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the courtyard with the oil painting Still Life
After Kruzwicki's death there were the following other exhibitions showing works of his work:
- Nov. 1971: 21st winter exhibition of the visual artists of North Rhine-Westphalia in the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the courtyard of honor with the oil paintings Composition 1968 , Composition 1969 and Composition 1970
- July 2005: Rhenish expressionists and European avant-garde, Middle Rhine Museum in Koblenz with the oil painting Flood in Boppard from 1920/21
- 2007 to 2008: Traveling exhibition Inspired by inner conviction ... , dedicated to the Koblenzer Künstlerbund Westmark . The exhibition focused on the artistic awakening in the southern Rhine province after the First World War. It was a cooperation project with the Simeonstift city museum in Trier, the Middle Rhine Museum in Koblenz and the Hunsrück Museum in Simmern
- Apr. 2007: Exhibition in the Hunsrück Museum Simmern
- Aug 2007: Exhibition in the Middle Rhine Museum in Koblenz
- March 2008: Exhibition in the Schlosspark Museum Bad Kreuznach
- Oct. 2009: Exhibition by the city of Runkel an der Lahn for the 850th anniversary of the city of Runkel. 400 years of Runkel in art (Kunstfreunde Runkel), with the oil painting Runkel
- Oct. 2010: Exhibition in the Middle Rhine Museum Koblenz. People-animals-emotions . Portraits from the 19th and 20th centuries, a depot retrospective with the oil painting Portrait of his son Karl-Heinz , 1929/30
- Apr. – Oct. 2011: Exhibition in the Middle Rhine Museum Koblenz Pictures + Travel + Pictures , European Landscapes of the 19th and 20th Century, a depot retrospective with the oil paintings Beilstein and Dorfstraße, possibly in Cochem or Beilstein
- Nov. 2011 – March 2012: Exhibition in the Middle Rhine Museum Koblenz The Blue Hour , a depot work show and much more. a. with works by members of the Koblenz artist community Das Boot , including Kruzwicki's oil painting Flood in Boppard , 1920/21
Selection of paintings in public buildings
Paintings in the Ahlen Art Museum (Westphalia)
- Grape harvest , oil on canvas, 1910 / 20s
Painting in the town hall of Cochem
- Church tower St. Martin in Cochem , oil on canvas, 1919
Painting in the Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf
- Still Life I , Sunflowers with Nasturtiums, oil on canvas, acquired from the museum in 1951
Painting in the Middle Rhine Museum in Koblenz
- Flood in Boppard , oil on canvas, 1920/21
- Beilstein / Mosel , oil on canvas, 1920s
- Dorfstrasse (possibly in Cochem or Beilstein), oil on canvas, 1920s (loan)
- Karl-Heinz Kruzwicki , oil on canvas, 1929/30 (loan)
- Madonna and Child , oil on canvas, 1950 (loan)
Painting in the Volksbank Krefeld
- Flowers in a jug , oil on canvas, 1920 / 30s
- Circles , oil on canvas, 1967–69
- Tranquility , oil on canvas, 1967–69
literature
- Dressler's Art Handbook , Volume Two. The book of the living German artists, archeologists, art scholars and art writers. Visual arts. Verlag Karl Curtius, Berlin 1930
- Hans Vollmer : General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century , VEB EA Seemann Verlag, Leipzig 1956, Volume 3 , p. 129
- Martin Papenbrock: “Degenerate Art”, art in exile, resistance art in West German exhibitions after 1945: a commented bibliography . VDG Verlag and database for the humanities, Weimar 1996, ISBN 3-932124-09-X
- Dietrich Hennes: Paper was scarce. The painter Hans Kruzwicki… In: Rheinische Post , 23 January 2007, C6 (Krefeld culture)
- Jürgen Johann and Heinz Kähne: Boppard stopover: Hans Kruzwicki (1885–1971). A Rhenish painter. In: Local history working group of the Boppard Transport and Improvement Association (ed.) : All about Boppard Journal No. 115, Boppard March 1, 2013
Church tower St. Martin in Cochem ,
oil on canvas, 1919
Middle Rhine near Oberwesel ,
oil on canvas, 1920s
View of Gandria on Lake Lugano in the morning light ,
oil on canvas
Kastanienallee in Harff ,
oil on canvas
Dorfstrasse ,
oil on canvas, 1920s, Middle Rhine Museum Koblenz
Tulip still life ,
oil on panel, around 1925
Madonna and Child ,
oil on canvas, circa 1950, Middle Rhine Museum Koblenz
Adoration of the Magi ,
oil on canvas, 1968
Circles ,
abstract color configuration,
oil on canvas, late 1960s
Calm ,
abstract color configuration,
oil on canvas, late 1960s
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Exact information on the life dates of Hans Kruzwicki and his family members can be found, for example, in the first part of a short biography on the life and work of Hans Kruzwicki published on Wikimedia Commons .
- ^ A b Franz Hardy: The painter Hans Sprung 1884–1948, catalog of works. With the catalog of the 1958 memorial exhibition in the electoral palace in Koblenz, Bendorf am Rhein in 1969
- ^ Jürgen Johann and Heinz Kähne: Boppard stopover: Hans Kruzwicki (1885–1971). A Rhenish painter . In: Local history working group of the Boppard Transport and Improvement Association (ed.): All about Boppard Journal No. 115, Boppard, March 1, 2013
- ^ Jürgen Johann: Emergency money in Boppard and Bad Salzig. In: Local history working group of the Boppard Transport and Improvement Association (ed.): All about Boppard Journal No. 62, Boppard Jan. 24, 2003, p. 16
- ↑ Johannes Büchner's obituary in the form of a poem can be found in the original wording, for example, on page 5 of the second part of a short biography about Hans Kruzwicki: Summary - Painting for the sake of painting on Wikimedia Commons, or in Rund um Boppard Journal No. 115, Boppard March 1, 2013.
- ^ Hans Bellinghausen: Journal for local history of Coblenz and the surrounding area , 1920
- ^ A b Hans Bellinghausen: Journal for local history of the Coblenz administrative district and the adjacent areas of Hessen-Nassau , 1921
- ↑ Lorenz Odendahl in sheets of the association for Mosel, Hochwald u. Hunsrück , 1922
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kruzwicki, Hans |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Kruzwicki, Johannes (baptismal name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 2, 1885 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Krefeld |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th October 1971 |
| Place of death | Dusseldorf |