Harald Schaub

Harald Schaub (full name: Harald Hermann Richard Schaub; born May 7, 1917 in Wittenberge , Mark Brandenburg , † September 25, 1991 in Steinhude ; also Harald Schaub-Kabege ) was a German painter .

Life

Stuttgart and Koenigsberg

After completing secondary school , Harald Schaub began studying at the Academy and School of Applied Arts in Stuttgart-Weissenhof in 1934 . Among other things, he took the subjects of graphics and font design with Friedrich Hermann Ernst Schneidler (1882–1956). In early 1936, Schaub moved to the Königsberg Art Academy ( East Prussia ), where he studied painting with Alfred Particle (1888–1945) and Eduard Bischoff (1890–1974). In the class for figurative drawing and painting, Bischoff taught Schaub the importance of drawing for painting as well as the principles of composition and the technique of mural painting , a style of painting that was to shape his entire artistic work. Particle, one of the most important landscape painters in East Prussia, who also belonged to the circle of the artist colony Nidden around Max Pechstein , represented the principle of “color as a pure medium of expression”.

Defamed as “degenerate offspring” , Schaub had to leave the academy in 1938, and the Munich Academy of Fine Arts refused to accept him for the same reason. Drafted into the Wehrmacht in 1939 , he suffered a serious head injury as a soldier at the front, which burdened him all his life. In the recovery phases he was allowed to return to the Königsberg Art Academy, where he successfully maintained a studio as a master student of Professor Bischoff. He took part in exhibitions in Königsberg, for example in the Teichert art salon and in the art academy. His work met with the interest of the feature pages , for example the art critic and editor-in-chief of the Königsberger Allgemeine Zeitung , Ulrich Baltzer , wrote several times about his works. Schaub's pictures were among others in the art collection of the Königsberg lawyer Dr. Paul Ronge , who was a friend of Carl Friedrich Goerdeler . But the official criticism of his style of painting continued. In 1943, his picture, Voice of the Homeland , part of the Grenadiers triptych , was imposed and banned immediately after the exhibition opened on charges of defeatism . The works created in Königsberg were probably destroyed in the bombing raid on the city in 1944.

Munster camp

The Second World War ended for Harald Schaub in 1945 as a British prisoner of war in Munsterin on the Lüneburg Heath . The camp management allowed him to set up a painting school. For a few years he added the name Kabege to himself. This stood for KBG - the abbreviation for Königsberg. At the end of 1945 a report on Schaub's pictures appeared for the first time in the Hanoverian news paper of the Allied military government . The author was the column head of the newspaper, the Hanoverian journalist and writer Friedrich Rasche (1900-1965). Schaub had a lifelong friendship with the art critic.

Hanover

Released from captivity, Schaub settled in Hanover in 1946 as a freelance painter. The sculptor and chairman of the Association of Fine Artists of Northwest Germany, Ludwig Vierthaler (1875–1967) supported him. Schaub also became a member of this artists' association. As early as 1946 he took part in exhibitions in Hanover and Göttingen .

In 1948 Harald Schaub opened a painting school licensed by the British military government, the first and for a long time only private painting school in Hanover. His students included the Latvian-Australian painter Uldis Abolins (1923–2010) and the German mural painter Helmut Felix Heinrichs (1930–2009). Henry, who from 1982 to 1986 at the Peasant War Panorama by Werner Tübke in Bad Frankenhausen has worked, the art school Harald Schaub visited in the 1950s - as well as the sculptor Jochen Borsdorf (* 1926), who later became Siegen Architecture Professor Hanns M. Sauter (1934- 2011) and the Hanoverian graphic artist Fred Jacobson (1922–2013).

In 1949 an article about Schaub appeared in the journal Die Kunst und das Schöne Heim , written by the art historian and later state curator of Lower Saxony, Oskar Karpa . It was through this contribution that the Solingen auditor and writer Heinz Risse (1898–1989) became aware of Schaub's work. Schaub promoted Risse intensively in the coming years by establishing contacts with potential buyers and exhibition organizers nationwide. Schaub came into contact with the writer and journalist Johannes Urzidil (1896–1970) through cracks . One of Schaub's sponsors was the then District President of Hildesheim , Wilhelm Backhaus (1911–2001). In 1951 he organized a week for the “Hour of Art” in Hildesheim, during which Schaub presented the solo exhibition “Wall picture and watercolor”. Schaub portrayed Backhaus several times, as well as numerous other people of his circle of friends and acquaintances, including the Hanoverian city councilor and cultural department head Heinz Lauenroth (1910–1991), the director of the Wilhelm Busch Museum , Dr. Friedrich Bohne (1908–1984), the film director Rudolf Jugert (1907–1979) - and also celebrities such as the actors Hans Richter (1919–2008) and Margot Hielscher (* 1919). Schaub often worked with the Hanoverian portrait and theater photographer Kurt Julius (1909–1986). In 1959 they took part in the Camera and Chalk exhibition in Hanover. Julius photographed Schaub's works for his exhibition catalogs.

Schaub was regularly represented at the exhibitions of the Association of Visual Artists in Hanover and the Hanover Art Association. He also opened his studio on Bödekerstraße for studio exhibitions and presented his works at solo and group exhibitions, e.g. B. in Hildesheim, Göttingen, Hamburg , Wuppertal , Stuttgart and Düsseldorf . In 1954 he had a solo exhibition of his work in Paris , in a gallery on Rue Saint Benôit in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés district . In the same year, the Moritz Diesterweg publishing house illustrated the sixth part of its school book, “ Look and Create”. A reader for the tenth year of school the poem The New Machine by the German poet Erich Grisar with the work Hammerschmiede by Harald Schaub, which he painted in 1951/52 and shown at the exhibition Eisen und Stahl in the courtyard of the Düsseldorf Art Museum in 1952.

In the mid-1960s he met the painter Friedel Jenny Konitzer (1915–2013). Both were a couple until his death in 1991.

Steinhude

From 1964 on, Harald Schaub lived in Steinhude am Steinhuder Meer , where he had built a residential and studio building. Serious physical and psychological health problems increasingly led to Schaub failures - also in relation to his artistic work. Due to a seizure, caused by head injuries sustained in the war, he was admitted to the Wunstorf State Hospital in 1973 . There, fellow patients and nurses injured him so badly in an argument that from then on he was barely able to paint. Schaub now turned increasingly to writing. In lyrical texts full of ironic puns, he described personal and political issues, often related to the art politics of his time.

plant

Schaub's life's work, comprising around 2,500 works of paintings (tempera, oil), watercolors and drawings, was essentially created between 1945 and 1973 in the field of tension between object-related and abstract painting . His main subjects were portraits, landscapes ( Curonian Spit in his early work, then Steinhuder Meer, Black Forest , North Sea , southern France ) and nudes. The train into the monumental is characteristic of his artistic style. Schaub's passion was wall painting . The subjects of his large-format murals are often time-critical. Regardless of the general tendency of contemporary painting towards pure abstraction and deliberately non-political art ( Informel , Abstract Expressionism ), Schaub remained committed to the figurative-expressive-abstract painting style he developed and his pictorial themes, some of which were critical of the time, in his works until the 1960s. In his work from the 1940s and 1950s, influences from Expressionism , New Objectivity , Cubism and abstraction can be seen . Schaub took up these impulses, developed them further and created his own style through this synthesis. Schaub's early surviving works (Abgrund 1945, Zeitgeige 1946/1949) are still detailed, later the painter increasingly abstracted. From the mid-1960s, the graphic-abstract predominated in his work. His works are carefully composed and, in some cases over years, prepared through studies. They show his characteristic urge to large areas, spirited colors and dynamic lines. A cool, factual representation in some of his pictures finds its counterpart in bright, strong colors, which he puts together according to his theory of pure color .

In addition to an extensive oeuvre of around 2500 works that are now privately owned and museums, many of his artistic texts have been preserved.

Works (selection)

(Dimensions: height × width; the pictures are in private ownership, unless otherwise noted)

• Voice of Home, 1943, tempera, 250 × 280 cm (lost)
• Abyss, 1945–1946, oil on panel, 230 × 150/164 cm
• Die Zeitgeige, 1946–1949, oil on hardboard, 245 × 201 cm
• Das Dach der Welt, 1950, tempera on hardboard, 245 × 201 cm
• Exitus in Tabula, 1950, tempera on hardboard, 165 × 200 cm
• Steps, 1951, tempera on hardboard, 290 × 200 cm
• Hammerschmiede, 1951/52, tempera on hardboard, 200 × 297
• Marionettes, 1952, tempera on hardboard, 237 × 192 cm
• Reservoir, 1952, tempera on hardboard, 167 × 202 cm
• Orchestra solo, 1953–1954, tempera on hardboard, 102 × 122 cm
• The Sorcerer's Apprentice, 1955–1957, tempera on hardboard, 169 × 206 cm
• Biarritz, 1956, tempera on hardboard, 105 × 160 cm
• Evolution, 1967–1968, acrylic on hardboard, 170 × 295 cm

Exhibitions (selection)

• 1941 Königsberg Art Academy: The students of Eduard Bischoff
• 1942 Teichert Art Salon, Königsberg: Harald Schaub - drawings
• 1943 Special exhibition at the Königsberg Art Academy: Harald Schaub: Grenadiers
• 1945 Munsterlager, camp studio: what was seen behind the barbed wire - sketches and studies of the 'Schaub School'
• 1946 Hanover, Orangery in Herrenhausen : Gekonnte Kunst (two exhibitions by the Association of Visual Artists Northwest Germany. The first took place in June / July 1946, the second in August)
• 1946 Göttingen, Galerie Dehnen: Colored show. Hanoverian painters and sculptors of the present (October); The time. Second time-critical art exhibition (November)
• 1947 Hamburg, agency of the Rauhen Haus : Harald Schaub-Kabege shows figural compositions, landscapes, portraits
• 1947/1948 Kunstverein Hannover , Kestner Museum Young Hanoverian Artists ( Gerhard Wendland , Heinz Fischer-Roloff (1923-2004), Harald Schaub-Kabege)
• 1949 studio exhibition, Hanover Bödeckerstraße 63: overview of the works since 1945 (with catalog, text: Walter Müller)
• 1951 Hildesheim, ballroom of the government: wall picture and watercolor , with catalog (text: District President Backhaus)
• 1952 Wuppertal-Elberfeld, "Brücke" gallery: Harald Schaub (with catalog. Text: Heinz Risse)
• 1952 Düsseldorf, Art Museum, Ehrenhof: Art exhibition iron and steel
• 1954 Paris, Galerie 22, Rue Saint-Benoit: Harald Schaub
• 1956 Hanover, photo studio Kurt Julius: the face. a four-day exhibition with pictures by Harald Schaub
• 1958 Hanover, Künstlerhaus: Harald Schaub. Pictures from 18 years
• 1959 Hanover, house Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 38/40, corner of Goseriede: camera and chalk , together with the photographer Kurt Julius
• 1968 Hamburg, Galerie Latin: Harald Schaub
• 1970 Salzgitter Kunstverein, atrium of the town hall: Harald Schaub. Pictures from three decades
• 1971 Steinhude, Center School: The painter Harald Schaub
• 1984 Wunstorf, Kunstverein: The painter Harald Schaub. Pictures from four decades (with catalog)
• 2000 Neustadt am Rübenberge, ALTREWA art collection, Rosenkrug: Harald Schaub
• 2004 Neustadt am Rübenberge, ALTREWA art collection, Rosenkrug: From the classic of the 20th to the classic of the 21st century
• 2010 Neustadt am Rübenberge, ALTREWA art collection, Rosenkrug: The 4 companions. Jochen Borsdorf, Fred Jacobson, Friedel J. Konitzer, Harald Schaub. Graphics, painting, drawing, sculpture

literature

• Friedrich Rasche : Spirited watercolors. In: artist sheet. Sheets from the Göttingen gallery Rudolf H. Dehnen. Issue 5/6, Göttingen no year (1946).
• Walter Müller, catalog text for the Harald Schaub studio exhibition . Overview of the works since 1945 , Hanover 1949
• Oskar Karpa: The painter Harald Schaub-Kabege , in: The art and the beautiful home. Monthly for painting, sculpture, graphics, architecture and home decor , 48th year, Munich: F. Bruckmann Verlag 1950, pp. 169–171
• Wilhelm Backhaus: "Wall picture and watercolor". Collective exhibition Harald Schaub . Ballroom government Hildesheim, Hanover 1951.
• Heinz Risse: The painter Harald Schaub , catalog of the exhibition in the "Brücke" in Wuppertal from September 13 to October 12, 1952, Hanover 1952
• Harald Schaub: Das Antlitz , catalog of the exhibition in the photo studio Kurt Julius in March 1956, Hanover 1956
• Hans Vollmer: General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century , Leipzig 1953–1962, Vol. 4, p. 176.
• Günter Krüger, Werner Timm, Ingeborg Nolde: Königsberg Art Academy 1845–1954 , work 11 of the Prussia series, ed. from the Prussia Society Duisburg, Ostdeutsche Galerie Regensburg; therein: Ingeborg Nolde: Biographien der Schüler, pp. 73–94, here p. 88.
• Harald Schaub. Painters and writers - pictures from 4 decades , catalog of the exhibition at the Kunstverein Wunstorf, 1984. With a foreword by Kurt Ewert.

Web links

• Images and texts by Harald Schaub as well as further information
• Harald Schaub in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Bischoff took the view that "the main thing when painting is - drawing"; see. Hans-Helmut Lankau, Jörn Barfod: Eduard Bischoff (1890-1974). Painter from Königsberg . Husum 1990, ISBN 3-88042-460-8 , p. 21.
2. ↑ See, among others, Ulrich Baltzer: The students of Eduard Bischoff. Second report on the exhibition at the Art Academy , in: Königsberger Allgemeine Zeitung , March 27, 1941.
3. ↑ See on Ronge memorial plaque Paul Ronge in Friedpark Berlin , accessed on February 12, 2013.
4. ↑ Dr. Ra (Friedrich Rasche): Portrait and landscape, encounter with the painter Harald Schaub-Kabege , in: Hannoversches Nachrichtenblatt, Saturday, November 10, 1945, p. 2.
5. ↑ On the Association of Visual Artists in Northwest Germany, cf. Kulturverein Chronos  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed February 12, 2014.  
6. ↑ About the exhibitions report among others Henri Nannen : art of our time? Comments on the exhibition of the Association of Visual Artists , in: Hannoversche Latest News , August 3, 1946; Dr. Ra. (Friedrich Rasche): First art exhibition in Hanover. Debut of the Association of Visual Artists of Northwest Germany , in: Hannoversche Presse , Hanover city edition, Tuesday, June 25, 1946.
7. ↑ Cf. Friedrich Rasche: Temperamentvolle Aquarelle , in: Künstler-Bogen. Sheets of the Göttingen gallery Rudolf H. Dehnen , issue 5/6, Göttingen undated (1946).
8. ↑ On the Backhaus cf. Joachim Raffert : The man of the first years. Memories of Wilhelm Backhaus, Hildesheim regional president from 1946 to 1954 , in: Hildesheimer Jahrbuch für Stadt und Stift Hildesheim , 72/73, 2000/01, pp. 221–227.
9. ↑ Cf. o. A. (W. Sch.): Hildesheim gives an example , Neue Zeitung (Munich) , February 6, 1951.
10. ↑ See above: Answer to controversial issues. On the exhibition “Camera and Chalk” in Hanover , in: photo / presse - specialist journal for all photography for craft, trade and industry, p. 3.
11. ↑ See e.g. B. Dr. Ra (Friedrich Rasche): From Munster camp to Paris , in: Hannoversche Presse, Thursday, April 8, 1954; Walthari Dietz-Paris: Paris exhibitions , in: Saarländische Volkszeitung Saarbrücken, Wednesday, April 14, 1954.
12. ↑ Cf. u. a. Lotte Frowein: A soldier is exhibiting. Drawings by Harald Schaub at Teichert , in: Königsberger Allgemeine Zeitung, July 4, 1942
13. ↑ Cf. u. a. Friedrich Rasche: There are three of you. Special exhibition: “Young Hanoverian Artists” , in: Hannoversche Presse, December 11, 1947, p. 3.