Hans Mathis

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Hans Mathis (born July 13, 1882 in Strasbourg ; † November 23, 1944 in Niederbronn , Alsace ) was a German painter who, due to his academic training, can be assigned to the so-called Munich School . His main works include urban and natural landscapes, still lifes and genre paintings, but above all portraits, including of important personalities of Munich society. His painting style is reflected in the naturalism and realism of the time, with his often broad, loose brushwork following the late impressionism, as is the case with painters from the artist group “ Die Scholle ” such as Leo Putz , Adolf Münzer , Walter Püttner , but also that older Wilhelm Trübner can be seen.

Life

Hans Mathis came from a middle-class family and grew up with his brother and a sister in his hometown. Encouraged by his first art teacher Lothar von Seebach , he devoted himself to “breadless art” - as so often - against the wishes of his parents. In 1905, at the age of 23, he moved to Munich, which was then in the heyday of art, to stay here until 1927. Here he studied at the Polytechnic with the architect and craftsman Adolf Seder. At the Munich Academy he became a student of Peter von Halm , whose legendary drawing lessons were almost compulsory, and whose training later made him a successful illustrator and caricaturist. In painting, he studied with professors Carl von Marr and Ludwig von Löfftz . In doing so, he devoted himself much more to the more modern view of Carl von Marr. The friendship with Adolf Heller (1874–1914) from Hamburg and his style of schooling in Düsseldorf and Paris also had an effect on Mathis, who now also devoted himself particularly to the portrait subject and was also able to let his impressions of the Paris trips of 1901 and later have an impact. However, he turned down the offer of a professorship at the Munich Academy in order to devote more time to his trips to Paris, Brittany, Provence and Italy. Mathis participated intensively in the life of the Munich artist societies. He maintained his studio in the artists' quarter Schwabing, at Herzogstraße 51. As a member of the “ Elf Executioners ” he was in the circle of friends of “ Simplicissimus ”, such as Bruno Paul , Olaf Gulbransson or Karl Arnold , who were regularly in “ Alten Simpl ” on Türkenstraße met. Other close painter friends were Leo Samberger , Hans Best , Heinrich von Zügel , Angelo Jank , Hugo von Habermann , Charles Vetter , Albert Weisgerber , Paul Paede and PJ Walch . As a portraitist, he also created portraits of important personalities in society, such as the well-known Munich doctor and writer Felix Schlagintweit , who immortalized the painter in his biography alongside Leo Putz and others. In portrait as well as in genre, in interior subject or still life, the quality of his works is hardly inferior to that of Putz or Püttner, although his level of awareness is impaired by the war loss of a very large part of his works. Numerous pictures were destroyed in bomb attacks after being stored with his sister in Strasbourg - others in his Munich studio. His wife Betty, of whom a number of prestigious portraits have survived, took care of the gallery negotiations. His success enabled him to build an artist's villa on Ungererstraße in Schwabing, a dream that broke due to the inflationary period. In 1927 he went back to Strasbourg. In the later years his travels through Bavaria predominated, often accompanied by the painter Fritz Gärtner (1882 Aussig - 1958 in Munich) in order to capture impressions of the landscape, today valuable documents from the pre-war period. At the age of 49 he suffered paralysis in both legs after a swimming accident and moved to a sanatorium in Niederbronn, where he continued to paint until his death. Accordingly, Strasbourg also became the site of several post-war exhibitions. Works by his hand in numerous private and public collections. The picture archive is managed by the art historian Dr. Alexander Rauch administered on behalf of the heirs.

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literature

personal data
SURNAME Mathis, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter
DATE OF BIRTH July 13, 1882
PLACE OF BIRTH Strasbourg
DATE OF DEATH November 23, 1944
Place of death Niederbronn , Alsace