Hermann Schmitz (painter)

Hermann Schmitz, Self-Portrait in the Prater (1926)

Hermann Schmitz (artist name: Schmitz-Süchteln) (* May 24, 1904 in Süchteln ; † November 4, 1931 ibid) was an artist influenced by Rhenish Expressionism .

Life

Hermann Schmitz grew up in a large family (he had 10 siblings) in Süchteln on the Lower Rhine and attended the Krefeld School of Applied Arts from 1919 to 1923. Together with his friend Wolf von Beckerath , he later got to know Ewald Mataré , Heinrich Nauen , Heinrich Campendonk and other artists of the Rhenish Expressionism during his stay at the Marienthal Monastery , from which he was strongly influenced. He spent 1926 in Vienna, and a year later he fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis. Until 1931 he went to Davos annually for sanatoria stays, which was only possible with the financial help of his friends. Weakened by hunger and disease, he died at the age of 27.

Art and work

Despite his short creative period, numerous pictures were created in a variety of techniques, themes, and styles. He received significant impulses from August Macke and the Rhenish Expressionists , but Schmitz's works were also influenced by the New Objectivity . Schmitz succeeded in uniting these two components into a type of image of his own. His watercolor bathers at the lake is reminiscent of the bathing scenes of the artists' association Die Brücke . From today's point of view, however, the drawings and prints (for example brothel scenes, crucifixion scenes, executions) are more important than his painting. The director of the Düsseldorf Art Academy Professor Walter Kaesbach called Schmitz "the most important talent in Rhenish painting". The artist called himself "Schmitz-Süchteln" after his place of birth and used the abbreviation H SS as a signature on his pictures.

Works (selection)

The municipal museum Abteiberg in Mönchengladbach owns among other things

• 1924 circus wagons and tightrope walkers (woodcut)
• 1927 circus couple (woodcut)
• (undated) Female Nude (oil on canvas).

In the "Graphic Collection" of the Städtische Galerie im Park in Viersen there are six graphics, including:

• 1924 Self-portrait in thinking pose (brush drawing)
• as well as the undated sheets The Cheap Jacob (lithograph), Two Children's Heads (charcoal) and Nudes on the Water (linocut).

Other important works:

• 1923 Young man in clown costume (oil on canvas)
• 1924 The Arrival of the Bishop ( tempera on paper)
• (undated) arguing men (chalk lithograph)
• 1926 Self-portrait in the Prater (oil on canvas)
• 1929 Rennplatz in Davos (watercolor)

Exhibitions

• 1929 and 1931 (solo exhibitions) and 1948–1949 (“Contemporary Lower Rhine Painting and Sculpture”), Kaiser Wilhelm Museum , Krefeld
• 1956 ("The Three Schmitze"), Süchteln
• 1977 ("Duitse Expressionisten"), Nijmeegs Museum, Nijmegen (NL)
• 1987 Municipal Gallery in Viersen Park
• 2004/2005 (“Hermann Schmitz for the 100th birthday”), Städtische Galerie im Park, Viersen

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hans Brög . In: Viersen. Contributions to a city . 12. 1987
2. ^ RE Tristram: A great hope of Rhenish painting. Hermann Schmitz died early 30 years ago . In: "Rheinische Post" No. 256 from November 3, 1961, culture mirror of the left Lower Rhine.

literature

• Albert Vigoleis Thelen : Hermann Schmitz. Attempt at an interpretation . In: "Vereinigte Dreistädte-Zeitung" of September 12, 1929
• RE Tristram: A great hope of Rhenish painting. Hermann Schmitz died early 30 years ago . In: " Rheinische Post " from November 3, 1961
• Matthias T. Engels: August Macke and Rhenish painting . In: “At the beginning. The young Rhineland ”. Municipal art gallery, Düsseldorf 1985
• Angelika Pack: Hermann Schmitz. A Rhenish painter . (Monograph). "Viersen. Contributions to a city. 12 ". Viersen 1987
• Jutta Pitzen: Hermann Schmitz on the 100th birthday . In: “Viersen. Contributions to a city. 27 ". Viersen 2004. ISBN 3-9808779-1-4

Web links

• Addict painter