Herbert Capeller
Herbert Capeller (born April 23, 1907 in Mühldorf am Inn ; † June 4, 1978 in Burghausen ) was a Bavarian painter and dentist , he created oil paintings, watercolors and gouaches .
biography
Herbert Capeller was born on April 23, 1907 as the eldest of seven children of the married couple Alois Capeller, dentist in Mühldorf am Inn, born. in Straubing on October 30, 1881 and the brewer's daughter Maria Capeller, b. Pauli, born Born on August 1, 1882 in Stubenbach , Bohemia .
Herbert Capeller's inclination was painting very early on. He would have liked to study painting. Instead, he received private lessons from his great uncle Ludwig Capeller. He was a student councilor, an authoritative teacher for art education at the Pasing teacher training institute and the editor of numerous educational publications at the D. Geiger publishing house in Mühldorf.
In this way Herbert Capeller was also able to live up to his father's ideas about a “proper” job, which were in the direction of taking over a dentist practice. He trained as a dentist, worked in his father's practice and also took painting and drawing lessons from his great-uncle. With the skills he acquired, he deepened his artistic skills as part of his training and further education by copying paintings by well-known artists. He even added “cop” to his signature if his picture was significantly different.
Until the outbreak of the Second World War, he worked in his hometown as a dentist in the group practice with his father - and as a painter. According to his code of honor, pregnancy then led to a marriage from which he could not be dissuaded. His military service as a radio operator must have given him insights that affected the man, who had become more and more silent, so that it came to a nervous breakdown. On a home leave, he threw himself out of the window with intent to commit suicide. He survived, one arm had to be amputated. As a soldier, he was therefore dishonorably released, and was admitted to a mental hospital near Wasserburg / Inn until the end of the war. The woman divorced. A connection to the daughter was never established.
After returning to civilian life, an economic crisis followed. He was no longer able to practice the profession he had learned as a dentist; the 1952 decree of equality between dentists and dentists was irrelevant to him. War pension claims were withdrawn from him. Only a small medical pension was available to him. It wasn't enough for an apartment of her own.
He was taken in by his parents, who lived on the 1st floor of the residential and commercial building at Katharinenplatz 10 . The 18 years younger brother Hans, born in 1925, whom he loved very much, did not return from the front and was considered missing. Much later it was clarified that he had died in captivity less than 20 years old in Focșani (Romania).
What remained to Herbert Capeller, the man who used to be fun-loving at a young age, was painting. He sold numerous paintings, but far below their value. Sometimes he also gave away pictures if he felt he was being treated well by someone or he used them to go to coffeehouses or to pay for meals in the household. How many and where they are scattered is not known. There is no catalog of works.
After the mother's death in 1962, father and son stayed together until the father died in 1968 and he therefore lost his apartment. Herbert Capeller spent the last ten years of his life in a nursing home in Burghausen . There was hardly any space in his small room, so he worked a lot in the open air, within the elongated castle complex. Herbert Capeller's life ended on June 4, 1978. He was buried in the Mühldorf cemetery. The small family grave was abandoned in 2014.
Artistic work
His own early work from the 1920s to 1939 is clearly influenced by the painting style of Carl Schuch , Wilhelm Trübner and also by Hans Thoma from the Leibl group . The main subjects were landscapes, still lifes and portraits. Whenever available, he painted in oils on canvas, wood and hardboard. Finely painted naturalistic watercolors around 1930 denote Glück am Inn, In den Innauen, Katharinenkircherl, Altmühldorf show a still idyllic world with the finest brush.
After 1945 he turned to the modern and the New Objectivity in terms of style. The experiences in the mental hospital had changed his nature, led to the rejection of obligations and compulsions. As a result, there was no connection to a gallery owner, so that he was not represented at exhibitions. He was no longer willing or able to expose himself to conceivable criticism of his artistic work. He had created his own view, lived in his world. What others thought of the artistic value of his works was unimportant to him. He was seldom willing to do commissioned work.
Art historical consideration
Bärbel Schäfer, sworn art expert (IHK Munich) for paintings by the Munich School of the 19th and early 20th centuries, examined three paintings from the early 1930s with regard to their art-historical classification and evaluation - and one from the post-war period. She was not fully informed about his training. At the beginning she formulates: "Although Capeller was not an academically trained artist, he nevertheless dealt extensively with the different trends of his time within his work."
“In the lively coloring of early 20th century painting, tendencies of Impressionism as well as New Objectivity and Expressionism can be demonstrated in his works. In his works Capeller's engagement with modern painting of the late 19th and early 20th centuries can be clearly traced ...
In the still life with flowers and two apples (oil / wood, 40 x 51 cm, signed ru), Capeller creates a composition with loose brushstrokes in impasto application of paint and the bright palette of the impressionists, a composition that comes to life from the interplay of colors and shapes.
As with the still lifes of the great master Cezannes… here, too, the interest in reproducing three-dimensional form elements can be felt, with the intention of defining their own meaning exclusively from color. The mutual familiarity of such incoherent things as the ocher-colored table top, the slightly inclined porcelain plate with the fruit knife placed on it, or the two apples that seem to have rolled apart by chance, was achieved by Capeller above all through the colorful interpenetrations rich in relationships. The earthen jugs on the edge of the table top are due to their color design, both with this and with the velvety brown background, compositional elements within the picture. Just like the red of the apple is repeated in the petals of the bouquet. The color makes the togetherness seem natural. "
The picture was created around 1930 and is influenced by Carl Schuch's peonies painted around 1890.
For the biography, Bärbel Schäfer rightly refers to the information given by Herbert Capeller's nephew in her report. Since they were (unfortunately) incomplete in January 1997 for Capeller's training, she comes to the conclusion : “Herbert Capeller's works may lack a basic academic education, but are nevertheless pleasing and decorative images that promote knowledge and discussion, the endeavor for the The processing and internalization of the great trends in painting at the beginning of the 20th century can be clearly felt. "
The art historian Sonja Baranow based her opinion on this statement in April 1997 on behalf of the LG Munich I with the indication that it is not recorded in the well-known artist reference works.
Works (selection)
- Works until 1939
View of the former rent office, now the tax office, on the left part of the former Cafe Sax Garten
River landscape signed around 1930
Winter view, probably Mühldorf
Still life around 1930
Portrait of a Jewish stranger from Mühldorf am Inn - made in the early 1930s
- Works after 1945
Beethoven study, undated, unsigned approx. 1950
In the Innauen von Mühldorf am Inn, gouache on paper block ru sign. HC
Expressionist representation of the view of Königsee and St. Bartholomä sign. HC around 1960
Farewell to mother Maria Capeller, 1962
In the castle complex of Burghausen sign without date - from about 1972
Individual evidence
- ↑ The author is nephew and copyright successor to the artist's sister Maria Schneider b. Capeller †
- ↑ The artist's nephew and copyright successor remembers the numerous art volumes in the dental laboratory / studio of the artist.
- ↑ Bärbel Schäfer [1]
- ^ Certificate by Bärbel Schäfer from 1997
- ↑ See also “Purely picturesque” - Wilhelm Leibl and his circle. [2]
- ↑ An established auction result from 1994 at a less renowned auction house was determined. Nevertheless, both experts came to a multiple higher assessment.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Capeller, Herbert |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German painter and dentist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 23, 1907 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Mühldorf am Inn |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th June 1978 |
| Place of death | Burghausen |