Hans Schmithals

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hans Felix Ernst Schmithals (born March 28, 1878 in Kreuznach ; † October 1, 1964 in Munich ) was a German artist , craftsman and editor and author of books on the Alps, the Alpine Road and the craft of past centuries.

Life

After an abandoned commercial apprenticeship in Darmstadt , he attended the "teaching and experimentation studios for applied and free art", or Debschitz School for short , from Hermann Obrist and Wilhelm von Debschitz in Munich from September 1902 . After completing his training, he became a teacher for hand wallpaper printing. The principle of this school, not to make a distinction between fine and applied arts and at the same time to be active in different artistic fields, also applied to his artistic work. From 1902 he only worked as a painter for a few years. Soon he turned to handicrafts and designed wallpaper, carpets and furniture. Carpets based on his designs were woven by Hahn & Bach in Munich and in the United Smyrna carpet factories in Cottbus , and one of his gentlemen's rooms was manufactured by the Frick company in Pappenheim . These activities ended when the First World War broke out. Between 1926 and 1930 he published the successful illustrated book Die Alpen in three editions , later he edited books on Die deutsche Alpenstraße (Volk-und-Reich-Verlag, Berlin 1936 / Thorbecke, Lindau 1960) and on the craft and technology of past centuries (1958 ). In 1958 his painting became part of the exhibition in Munich 1869–1958. New departure for modern art in Munich. Although he only worked as a painter for a few years, he is still considered an important stimulus in the transition from Art Nouveau to abstract painting.

Schmithals had his studio in Munich on Leopoldstrasse. However, it was totally destroyed in World War II. It was also said that his pictures stored in the Bavarian National Museum were partially destroyed or damaged during the war. After his death it turned out that from the 1950s onwards he had tried to restore or reconstruct his main work, but also to create a completely new one, which sparked a debate about whether it was still "originals". His estate is in the Bad Kreuznach Castle Park Museum. In 2014, a cross-genre exhibition will be held here on the 50th anniversary of his death under the title Hans Schmithals (1878–1964): Between Art Nouveau and Modernism . A carpet and Art Nouveau jewelery from his estate, which Graham Dry's friends and employees of Schmithals ascribed in 1990, are in the Landesmuseum Mainz (Art Nouveau department). A smaller estate is kept in the German Art Archive in the Germanic National Museum in Nuremberg . The main works of his paintings from the period shortly after 1900 are in the Munich City Museum , in the Bavarian Painting Collections in Munich, in the City Gallery in Lenbachhaus and Kunstbau Munich and in the Schloßparkmuseum Bad Kreuznach. Most of the works of his late painterly creativity are in private hands; a large part is also owned by the Bad Kreuznach Castle Park Museum.

The most recent and most detailed examination of his legacy is the monograph on Hans Schmithal's (1878–1964): Painting Between Art Nouveau and Abstraction , written by Andrea Richter on the basis of her doctoral thesis , which appeared in May 2014 in the series of Regensburg Studies on Art History.

Works

  • The Alps , Berlin, 1926
  • The German Alpine Road , 1936, completely reworked in 1960
  • Crafts and technology of past centuries. 124 graphic sheets selected , 1958

literature

  • Die Kunst , Heft 30, 1914, pp. 264–272.
  • Die Kunst , Heft 10, 1987, p. 826ff [with many illustrations].
  • Catalog for the Munich exhibition 1989 The Masters of Munich Art Nouveau , p. 152ff.
  • Andrea Judge: Hans Schmithals (1878 - 1964). Painting between Art Nouveau and Abstraction (Regensburg Studies on Art History, 19, edited by Christoph Wagner ), Schnell and Steiner Verlag, Regensburg 2015, ISBN 978-3-7954-2886-0 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Eugen Kalkschmidt: Work by Hans Schmithals , in: Dekorative Kunst, Vol. XXII / XVII (March 6, 1914), pp. 265–272; Wallpaper designs , in: Decorative Art, Vol. XII / VII (March 6, 1904), p. 211; a ladies room , in: Interior Decoration, Vol. XX (June 1909), p. 195; a gentleman's room , in: Decorative Art, Vol. XXII / XVII (March 6, 1914), pp. 266 and 267.
  2. ↑ See Munich 1869–1958. Departure for modern art , exhibition cat. House of Art Munich, Munich 1958.
  3. ↑ Cf. Michaela Rammert-Götz: The abstract ornament in Munich Art Nouveau. Theories and Design , Munich 1994, p. 164.
  4. ^ Andrea Richter: Hans Schmithals (1878 - 1964): Painting between Art Nouveau and Abstraction . (= Regensburg Studies on Art History, Vol. 19), Regensburg 2014, ISBN 978-3-7954-2886-0 .
personal data
SURNAME Schmithals, Hans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Schmithals, Hans Felix Ernst (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German artist, craftsman as well as editor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH March 28, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Kreuznach
DATE OF DEATH October 1, 1964
Place of death Munich