Johann Walter-Kurau

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Self-portrait 1924

Johann Walter-Kurau , actually Johann Walter , Latvian: Jānis Valters (born February 3, 1869 in Mitau , Kurland Governorate , Russian Empire ; † December 19, 1932 in Berlin ) was a Latvian and German artist. As one of the founders of modern Latvian painting, he painted landscapes, portraits and genre scenes. He worked in Mitau until 1906 , then in Dresden and later in Berlin.

Life

Market in Mitau (1898)
Ducks (1898)

Jānis Walter, son of the merchant and city councilor Theodor Walter, was one of five children. The mother's maiden name was Kurau . From 1880 to 1888 Walter studied at the Mitau secondary school, where Kurt Wiessner was one of the art teachers. In addition, he took private lessons in the studio of the artist Julius Döring and received violin lessons.

From 1889 to 1897 he studied at the St. Petersburg Art Academy with Alexei Danilowitsch Kiwschenko and Konstantin Yegorowitsch Makowski . After his father went bankrupt, he had to finance his studies through contract work. In 1897 he received a gold medal for his thesis market in Mitau .

He was a member and temporarily head of the Latvian artist group "rūķis" (dwarf).

In Germany

After the death of his parents and the upheavals caused by the revolution of 1905 , Walter went to Germany forever in 1906. One of the reasons for emigrating was the divorce from his wife. He was also socially isolated after he and Vilhelms Purvītis failed to sign a petition to the tsar in 1905.

He signed his later works in Germany with the double name Walter-Kurau. Under this name he was also listed as a member of the German Association of Artists . Following an invitation from Baron Paul von Schlippenbach , who was also a painter, he settled in Dresden. Here he initially earned his living playing the violin at the Dresden Opera House . His second wife was a violinist. Walter-Kurau was a co-founder of the Grün-Weiß artist group and the Dresden artist group in 1913 . At the opening of the exhibition of the Dresden artist group in 1913 from February 1 to February 21, 1914 in the Arnold Gallery , he gave a speech. In 1917 he moved to Berlin. As part of the art business, he took part in exhibitions and made portraits to order. He had his last participation in an annual exhibition of the German Association of Artists in 1929 in the State House at the Rheinpark in Cologne, where he was represented with a still life.

His painting school was attended by many students who later became famous: Hans Zank , Willi Gericke , Ilse Heller-Lazard , Eva Langkammer , Else Lohmann , Minna Köhler-Roeber , Thea Hucke , Florence Henri , Otto Manigk , Karen Schacht , Luise Grimm , Hans Ludwig Pfeiffer . One of his students, Otto von Kursell , later became director of the Berlin Academy of the Arts .

plant

Naked woman standing. (Around 1932), oil, 28 × 24 cm

The genre scenes “The Market” (1897), “Peasant Woman” (circa 1905), “Orphan Child” (1907) were famous from Walter's early works. The painting "Bathing Boys" was also widely known in Latvia.

Walter painted landscapes in the style of realism . In later years, German Expressionism was predominant in the works. One can see his passion for music in Walter's painting.

While he is counted among the most important artists in Latvia, he is largely forgotten in Germany. His works can be seen in the collections of the Latvian Art Museum and the museums of the cities of Kuldīga and Tukums .

literature

  • Walter-Kurau Johann . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 35 : Libra-Wilhelmson . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1942, p. 133 .
  • A. Lapips, A. Eglits: Jānis Valters , Riga 1953.
  • J. Osis, H. Wolter: Johann Walter-Kurau and his school . Galerie Pro Arte, Verden an der Aller 1997, 237 pp.
  • E. Zierer: Objective value grouping: Art monographic overview of the work of Walter-Kurau. JJ Ottens, Berlin 1930, 125 pp.
  • Kristiāna Ābele: From Impressionism to Modernism: The Style Development of Johann Walter between 1900 and 1930. In: Studies on Art History in the Baltic States: Homburger Talks 1999–2001 , ed. by LO Larsson. MCA Böckler Foundation, Kiel 2003. pp. 87–110.
  • K. Sūniņš, M. Ivanovs (text, in four languages): Valters: reprodukciju albums. Liesma, Riga 1978
  • Ralf F. Hartmann, Kristiana Abele: Between the Baltic States and Berlin: The painter Johann Walter-Kurau (1869–1932) as an artist and teacher. Mitteldeutscher Verlag 2009, ISBN 978-3-89812-610-6

Web links

Commons : Johann Walter-Kurau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Biography at Latvian art history
  2. M. Ivanovs: Jānis Valters , Rīga: Liesma, 1978 p. 163
  3. Andris Vilsons, Anita Vanaga, Velta Holcmane: Maksla un Arhitektura biogrāfijās , Riga 1995, ISBN 5-89960-058-6 , page 255
  4. kuenstlerbund.de: Full members of the Deutscher Künstlerbund since it was founded in 1903 / Walter-Kurau, Joh. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on June 17, 2016) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.kuenstlerbund.de
  5. ^ M. Ivanovs: Jānis Valters , Rīga: Liesma, 1978, p. 165
  6. ^ The exhibition of the Dresden artist group in 1913 . In: Dresdner Latest News . 22nd year, 33, February 4, 1914, p. 2 ( digitized version ).
  7. ^ Catalog of the Deutscher Künstlerbund Cologne 1929. May – September 1929 in the State House , M. DuMont Schauberg, Cologne 1929, p. 33: Walter-Kurau, Joh., Berlin. Catalog number 308, still life.
  8. Biography at Latvian art history