Hermann Wehrmann

Hermann Wehrmann (born July 18, 1897 in Hamburg , † October 5, 1977 in Glückstadt ) was a German painter , graphic artist and restorer .

Life

Wehrmann was born as the second child of the master shoemaker Anton Julius Wehrmann and his wife Margarethe, née. Bremer, born in Hamburg. With the professional goal of lithographer he attended the State School of Applied Arts in Hamburg in 1912/13 . In 1914 the family - the father died in 1912 - moved to Glückstadt on the Lower Elbe. From 1916 to 1918 he was stationed in the Rendsburg garrison, where he met the Husum painter Albert Johannsen (1890–1975).

The friendship with Johannsen determined his further artistic path. After the war, on Johannsen's advice, Wehrmann again attended the arts and crafts school in Hamburg in the winter semester of 1919/20. He chose Arthur Illies' class and then continued his studies at the Kassel Art College .

In the economically difficult 20s - Wehrmann was now married to Erna Behrens (1921) and had two children to look after - he hired several times as a seaman. Financial relief was brought about by the Flensburg museum director Ernst Sauermann (1890–1956) as a restorer for August Wilckens . After Wilckens gave up his activity after six years, Wehrmann continued the church restoration independently. Contract work in public buildings was added. He survived military service in 1940/45 unscathed. In Le Havre , France, he made numerous sketches and studies. After the war, the restoration of churches - over 50 churches in 16 years - and public buildings secured its existence. In 1946 he became a member of the newly founded artists' association Steinburg . Extensive trips to France, Spain, Canada and California expanded the range of motifs. In addition to outdoor painting , studio work increasingly appeared. In 1951 he joined the Hamburg Art Association .

In 1971 the studio burned down and a large part of his life's work was destroyed. Hermann Wehrmann died on October 5, 1977 in Glückstadt.

plant

Wehrmann's work includes oil paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints . After attending the arts and crafts school, he first made drawings, etchings and some wood and linocuts . Preferred motifs were the port of Hamburg and the Schleswig-Holstein landscape.

Oil painting soon became more important in Wehrmann's work, which can certainly be traced back to Johannsen's influence and his training at Illies. Illies from the circle of the Hamburg Artists' Club was shaped by post-impressionist plein air painting with predominantly north German subjects. Wehrmann's representation is objective. At first, earthy, dark colors dominate. Later the painting becomes more colorful, very varied, often with a strong impasto application. The north German landscape, often of a maritime character, and the people who live and work there provide motifs. Wehrmann also did a lot of commissioned work, such as wall paintings and panel paintings for administration buildings. His extensive work has not yet been documented.

Public collections

• Municipal Museum, Flensburg
• Detlefsen Museum , Glückstadt
• Prinesshof District Museum, Itzehoe
• Kiel City and Maritime Museum, Kiel
• North Sea Museum-Nissenhaus, Husum
• Dithmarscher Landesmuseum , Meldorf

Own numerous works: City of Glückstadt, Steinburg district, Bundeswehr, banks, savings banks.

Exhibitions

• 1927: Itzehoe, (Max Kahlke, Helene Gries-Danican , Carl Blohm, Hermann Wehrmann, Wenzel Hablik )
• 1936: Kiel, Kunsthalle (Albert Johannsen, Willy Graba, Hermann Wehrmann)
• 1977: Itzehoe, Museum Prinzesshof (Carl Blohm, Helene Gries-Dancan, Wenzel Hablik, Max Kahlke, Hermann Wehrmann)
• 1997: Glückstadt, Palais for Contemporary Art , solo exhibition
• 2001: Glückstadt, Detlefsen-Museum in Brockdorff-Palais: "Painting of the Elbmarschen ( Karl Leipold , Hermann Wehrmann, Hans Wrage )
• 2009: Glückstadt, art collection of the Detlefsen Museum, a. a. Works by Hermann Wehrmann
• 2017: Itzehoe, Wenzel Hablik Museum , "A reunion. Five Steinburg artists: Blohm, Gries-Danican, Hablik, Kahlke, Wehrmann"

References to other exhibitions: Der Neue Rump, p. 485

literature

• Vollmer, "General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the 20th Century", EA Seemann Leipzig 1999, 5th volume, p. 96
• Der Neue Rump, "Lexicon of the Visual Artists Hamburg, Altona and the surrounding area", Neumünster 2005, p. 485
• Schleswig-Holstein Yearbook 1932–33 (art calendar), editor Dr. Ernst Sauermann, director of the Thaulow Museum in Kiel, Paul Hartung Verlag Hamburg
• Westermannsmonthshefte, special print from the 79th JG. (Sept. 1934 – Aug. 1935), 8 ills.
• H.-P. Widderich, "Hermann Wehrmann 1897–1977", Glückstadt 1997
• H.-P. Widderich, "Painting in the Elbmarschen", inventory catalog of the Detlefsen Museum, Glückstadt 1994
• "The painters of the north", exhibition catalog Detlefsen-Museum, Glückstadt 2009
• Edith Reschke, Wolfgang Reschke, H.-P. Widderich, "50 Years Ago - 5 Steinburger Künstler", Itzehoe 1977 (contains Widderich's catalog raisonné of Wehrmann's prints)
• Carsten Meyer-Tönnesmann, "The Hamburg Art Club of 1897", Fischerhude 1997
• Ernsthermann Kölln, "Peter Kölln, history of a family business in pictures by well-known artists", Wachholtz 2013

Further references: Widderich "Hermann Wehrmann 1897–1977", p. 68 and p. 95

Catalog of works for prints in: "50 Years Ago - Five Steinburg Artists", see bibliography.