Johannes Maximilian Avenarius

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The "Paradise Hall" in the Wiesenstein House in Agnetendorf (Jagniątków)

Johannes Maximilian Avenarius (born January 7, 1887 in Greiffenberg ; † August 21, 1954 in Berlin-Müggelheim ) was an expressionist painter , graphic artist and illustrator .

Johannes Avenarius was best known for his illustrations for works by the writer Gerhart Hauptmann , with whom he had a close and long-term friendship. For Hauptmann he also designed his house 'Wiesenstein' in Agnetendorf in 1922 with wall paintings. His uncle, the poet Ferdinand Avenarius , gave him his first artistic training in 1905 with the Dürerbund scholarship holder Karl Hanusch . He later studied in Dresden and Munich . Avenarius created murals for churches in his Silesian homeland as well as in Berlin / Köpenick after the war . In addition to his work as a visual artist , Avenarius also wrote poems and stories in the Silesian dialect.

In 1918 he married Elisabeth Reuter called Lili, daughter of the writer Gabriele Reuter . Their son died just five weeks after his birth in 1919 . The marriage was divorced again in 1922 .

In 1924 Avenarius was appointed professor at the Plauen State Art School , which was headed by Karl Hanusch at the time . Among other things because of his commitment to artists such as Wassily Kandinsky , Paul Klee and Lyonel Feininger , he was imprisoned in 1933 and dismissed from school.

After the Second World War , Avenarius had to flee Silesia and was assigned an apartment in Berlin-Müggelheim . His grave is in the Nikolaikirchhof in Görlitz, part of the painter's estate in the Gerhart-Hauptmann-Museum in the Villa Lassen zu Erkner.

literature

  • Johannes M. Avenarius: The paintings in the paradise hall on the meadow stone. In: Gerhart Hauptmann yearbook. Vol. 1, 1936, ZDB -ID 526380-3 , pp. 91-103.
  • Johannes M. Avenarius: Steps. In: Gerlinde Schneider, Klaus Schneider (ed.): Karl Hanusch - serious and cheerful. Materials on the life and work of the painter and graphic artist. Self-published, Leun 2006, ISBN 3-00-018536-4 , pp. 58-76.
  • Detlef Lorenz : Johannes Maximilian Avenarius. A Silesian artist life in Gerhart Hauptmann's circle in the first half of the 20th century. In: Yearbook of the Silesian Friedrich Wilhelms University in Breslau. Vol. 45/46, 2004/2005, ISSN  0448-1348 , pp. 551-568.
  • Christian Henke : Home, you hold me! Johannes Maximilian Avenarius and Görlitz . Neisse Verlag, Dresden 2015. ISBN 978-3-86276-154-8 .

Web links

Commons : Johannes Maximilian Avenarius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Avenarius, Johannes Maximilian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Avenarius, Hannes M .; Avenarius, Johannes Maximilian
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German expressionist painter, graphic artist and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Gryfów Śląski , Silesia
DATE OF DEATH August 21, 1954
Place of death Berlin-Müggelheim