Hermann Bruse

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Hermann Bruse (born April 5, 1904 in Hamm ( Westphalia ), † May 25, 1953 in Berlin ) was a German painter and graphic artist .

Life

Bruse and his family moved to Magdeburg in 1917 . He broke off a teaching degree that he started in 1919 for financial reasons. He then took up a commercial apprenticeship, which he completed in 1925, and worked as a commercial clerk.

In 1925/1926 he completed two semesters in evening classes at the Magdeburg School of Applied Arts and Crafts . The first commercial graphic works were created. Bruse trained as an autodidact . In 1932 he then set up as a freelance artist.

Bruse was also politically active. In 1932 he joined the KPD . In the time of National Socialism from 1933 he continued his political work in the illegality. He belonged to the illegal KPD leadership in Magdeburg and created illustrations for the banned KPD newspaper " Tribüne ".

The first arrest was made in 1934. After a court case he was imprisoned in Luckau prison. Although he was also banned from painting and exhibiting, he continued his artistic work. Mainly portraits of fellow prisoners were created.

In 1937 he was released. He was active in the Rote Hilfe group and worked in the resistance against National Socialism with Martin Schwantes , Hermann Danz , Hubert Materlik , Friedrich Rödel and Johann Schellheimer . As a member of the illegal local KPD leadership, he maintained contact with the resistance group around Anton Saefkow in Berlin and Georg Schumann in Leipzig .

In 1944 he supported Käthe Kollwitz . In November of that year, however, another arrest took place as a result of which he was sentenced to death for preparing a treasonous enterprise . However, the sentence was not carried out. On April 10, 1945 the Gestapo left Magdeburg in front of the US troops approaching from the west . The local police and prison authorities had been ordered to carry out the open executions of 29 political prisoners on April 12th. On April 13, the prison authorities announced that the political prisoners would be released that same day, which it did.

After the end of the war, Bruse campaigned for the establishment of a socialist state and continued to work for the KPD, which was united with the SPD to form the SED in the Soviet occupation zone in 1946 . Bruse was one of the founding members of the Kulturbund , where he worked with Herbert Stockmann and Bruno Beye .

In 1947 Bruse was appointed to the Humboldt University in Berlin as a lecturer and lecturer at the Institute for Art Education. A major focus of his work was the training of art educators. Bruse had contact with Erich Weinert in Berlin .

Create

Bruse's work was strongly influenced by his political commitment, especially against National Socialism. After initially Cubist work, the "prison drawings" in the 30s and the later woodcuts were strongly influenced by politics. They represent an important contribution to the German art of aesthetic resistance.

After 1949 he turned to a realistic representation that was clearly shaped by Soviet influences and propagated an optimistic view of mankind.

The city of Magdeburg named a place in his honor ( Hermann-Bruse-Platz )

Works (selection)

  • Study from the Charité, convalescent, painting 1949
  • Portrait of Marianne in Yellow, painting 1946
  • Experiment I - IV, 4 different Painting, 1947–49
  • Self-portrait with mirror, oil painting, 1933 (Collection of the Nationalgalerie Berlin)
  • Prison drawings, from 1934
  • My mother, painting, 1938
  • Interrogation, woodcut
  • Mad in ruins, woodcut
  • The Agitator, oil painting, 1942 (Collection of the Museum for German History, Berlin)
  • The blind man, painting 1944
  • Prison drawings, 1944/1945
  • Comrade in the judicial prison in Magdeburg, pencil and black chalk, 1945 (collection of the Lindenau Museum Altenburg / Thuringia)
  • The Hunger March, oil painting 1945–46 (Collection of the Gemäldegalerie Neue Meister, Dresden)
  • The Seeker I, painting 1948
  • Ecce homo, oil painting 1948 (Collection of the Nationalgalerie Berlin)
  • The empty pot, painting, 1948
  • Apples, painting 1949–50
  • May 1950, painting
  • People Seeker, oil painting, 1950 (Collection of the Gemäldegalerie der Staatliche Museen Berlin)
  • Mourning women, oil painting, 1950 (collection of the Lindenau Museum Altenburg / Thuringia)
  • Seated young girl, watercolor and black chalk, 1951 (Gera Art Collection, Otto-Dix-Haus)
  • Fritze von der Stalinallee, painting 1952
  • The new owner, painting 1951
  • Self-portrait, painting, 1950
  • Welder Umara, painting 1952

literature

  • Renate Hagedorn: Bruse, Hermann. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 .
  • Martin Wiehle : Magdeburg personalities. Published by the Magistrate of the City of Magdeburg, Department of Culture. imPuls Verlag, Magdeburg 1993, ISBN 3-910146-06-6 .
  • Lothar Lang: Painting and graphics in the GDR. Publishing house Philipp Reclam jun. Leipzig, 1983; Pp. 9, 14, 21, 39, 46

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b c d e f g Image index of art & architecture
  2. ^ Lothar Lang: Painting and Graphics in the GDR. Publishing house Philipp Reclam jun. Leipzig, 1983; P. 20