Hermann Metz (painter)

Willingshausen painter's colony, photo from 1913; From left to right: Heinrich Giebel , Marlies Dörr, Hermann Kätelhön , Hermann Metz, Wilhelm Thielmann , Adolf Lins , Heinrich Otto , Carl Bantzer

Hermann Metz (born March 21, 1865 in Kassel ; † March 19, 1945 in Bad Sooden-Allendorf ) was a painter and draftsman who was closely connected to the Willingshausen painters' colony and who had a close circle of friends with, among others, Carl Bantzer , Heinrich Giebel , Adolf Lins , Wilhelm Thielmann , Hermann Kätelhön and Heinrich Otto .

Life

Hermann Metz, called 'Humbert' by his friends, was the 3rd son of the master shoemaker Heinrich Kaspar Metz and A. Elisabeth Metz, née. Baake. The marriage resulted in seven children, including six sons and the seventh and youngest daughter Anna Katharina Elisabeth Wilhelmine, later mother of the Munich musician and violin professor Heinrich Ziehe (a member of the Freund Quartet and the Keller Quartet ). Hermann Metz attended the art academies in Munich and Kassel ; at that time he already had his own studio. Since the existence of a freelance painter and draftsman was not profitable enough, he studied for three years at the Kunstgewerbeschule Kassel (with Louis Kolitz , Hermann Knackfuß , Carl Wünnenberg ) together with his childhood friend Heinrich Giebel (1865-1951). In Kassel he passed his final exam as a drawing teacher. At the arts and crafts school he also met his future wife Hedwig Klapp (March 20, 1872– March 19, 1965), who was also an artist. The marriage resulted in a daughter (Elisabeth Metz). In 1904 he worked as a drawing teacher in Bochum . For the next 25 years (1905–1931) he worked as an art teacher and high school drawing teacher in Höchst am Main , before moving to Wandsbek (Hamburg) in 1931, where his wife owned a parental home. During the Second World War , the Metz family was evacuated in 1943 and found a new home with his older brother Friedrich in Bad Sooden-Allendorf an der Werra . He died there on March 19, 1945.

Create

Hermann Metz devoted most of his free time to painting. He came to the Willingshausen painters' colony for the first time in 1889 and became one of its most loyal members and artists until 1944; especially in the years 1904 to 1930 he was to be found regularly in all holidays from Easter to autumn at the Schwalm. He was particularly valued by Heinrich Giebel , Wilhelm Thielmann and Carl Bantzer . Although Hermann Metz was initially close to naturalism , under the influence of the painter colleagues of his Willingshäuser and Höchst Zeit, he clearly turned to Impressionism . Hermann Metz mainly worked with oil painting and drawings (lead and colored pencil drawings). According to Carl Bantzer, he had a different way of painting than his friends; afterwards he went around nature with his drawing pad, maybe also colored pencils in his backpack, keenly observing and enjoying in water boots and with a feather-adorned hat, mostly limited himself to sketches - instead of tormenting himself with them while painting - and then recreated at home The large number of “extremely charming drawings made with a light hand and a keen eye for the pictorial” free his pictures, “which are always characterized by a fine tone feel.” It was no coincidence that Hermann Metz mockingly coined the phrase “When you paint you miss the best Time".

Some of his works are reminiscent of the style of Paul Baum , member of the Dresden Secession , great German landscape painter, friend of Carl Bantzer and also to be found in Willingshausen from 1914 onwards . Hermann Metz's subjects often depict rural scenes, landscapes and places in Hesse (including Dörnberg , Gottsbüren , Höchst, Alt-Kassel, Rhön , Runkel , Marburger Land, Willingshausen) and Hessian winter landscapes. His main creative areas were undoubtedly Höchst and Willingshausen. He was a typical representative of his Willingshausen generation of painters and has been receiving increasing attention for some time.

Works by Hermann Metz can be found among others. a. in the holdings of the museums in Kassel (New Gallery, State Art Collections, City Museum) and Marburg (University Museum ) as well as in private ownership.

literature

• Carl Bantzer: Hessen in German painting. Marburg, 4th edition, 1979.
• Paul Schmaling: Artist Lexicon Hessen-Kassel 1777–2000. Kassel 2001.
• Jürgen A. Wollmann: The Willingshausen painters 'colony and the Klein-Sassen painters' colony. Schwalmstadt-Treysa 1992.
• Arnold Metz (Hrsg.): Family chronicle, The Müller Metz on the Harler mill. 1972.