Josef Candels

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Josef Candels (born April 19, 1903 in Jülich ; † July 27, 1992 in Enkirch ) was a German painter of the 20th century who strove to counter the general trend in art both before and after the war in his works.

The person Josef Candels

Josef grew up in a musical family in which every member of the family mastered a musical instrument. His upbringing was traditional, popular. During his youth he often dreamed of a lonely island where he could experience nature in himself. He realized this dream of an alternative life in his studio on Willigshell, a vineyard in a side valley of the Moselle near Enkirch .

Candels introduced the term “ poetic realism ”, which became characteristic of his works. In it he placed the beauty and splendor of colors in the foreground, with details in the form and structure of the motifs being discussed.

Josef Candels suffered from osteoarthritis most likely due to his unusual and health demanding lifestyle. He spoke of "stomach problems", which were possibly due to his increased cigarette consumption. The artist fed on natural products and tried to heal himself in this way. He was almost 90 years old.

In addition to his artistic genius, Candels was, among other things, literary talent. He wrote the text for carnival hits in Rhenish dialect, such as B. "We drive Gondola" (1933), in order to then sing it to the Cologne audience in ceremonial sessions . After the Second World War , various poems were written, which often became the basis of numerous chants (especially drink chants).

biography

Josef Candels attended the Jülich elementary school from 1909 to 1917. He then did an apprenticeship as a cabinet maker and passed the journeyman's examination around 1920. Then Candels attended the Aachen School of Applied Arts . In the summer semester of 1927 he enrolled at the Art Academy at Nordhof in Munich and in 1933 went on a study trip to Italy .

In 1940 Candels was drafted into the Wehrmacht and stationed in Marienloh near Paderborn in 1941 . There he worked as a painter.

In 1945 Candels moved to Taubach near Weimar and in 1950 to Enkirch on the Moselle. There he lived and worked in old age in the lonely Ahringstal, just like the painter Heinrich Gesemann , who had his house and studio only a few hundred meters away.

The artist about himself ...

“I was always looking for melodies that touch the heart, the little miracles of our very own reality, despite a few so-called study trips. I didn't need a sensational, strange world.

I am enthusiastic about the small miracles in our area of ​​life ... "

Josef Candels , Traben-Trarbach 1983

... and how he was seen

The art historian Elisabeth Gimler describes Candels in 1939 as a “visual type”, as someone who loves “the grand gesture”. She speaks of a closeness that does not refer to his appearance, but to his "spiritual experience". On the other hand, she argues that the artist seeks the company of others. She gives him a certain "pathetic constitution"; that he is freedom-loving and generous at the same time. After all, he puts his feelings above the will, which leads to a "creative originality".

Now these characterizations should be read with caution. Gimler wrote this at the time of the Nazi regime, which is why certain vocabulary must be viewed critically, as it is not clear whether the above mentioned. Viewing was made public.

There are good repute records from the early post-war period in which Candels is described in writing by contemporary witnesses as an "anti-militarist" and "opponent of National Socialism". These documents, which were also called " Persilscheine ", served as proof of non-participation in relation to the pre-war period in the Soviet occupation zone in which Candels lived at the time, and were issued by people and companies from the Rhineland.

Others see him in the same context as “completely apolitical”, which, however, cannot be entirely true, since Candels joined the newly founded CDU in 1946 .

Style direction

In 1967, Friedrich Gottwald describes Candel's works as depictions of a “bright land full of wonders”, in which the artist “seeks the beauty of the world with all his senses” and distances himself from “time-related hierarchies”. Aptly he describes it as "painted music".

During his time in the Soviet occupation zone and the then newly founded GDR, Candels painted portraits of Russian officers. He created flowers and expressive fish pictures that were to dominate his entire life as an artist.

Josef Candels coined the term “poetic realism”. A "series" (as he himself called it) was created of depictions of landscapes , especially of the Middle Moselle and its locations. In this, he neither counteracted the general trend of the post-war period, which praised progress in the frenzy of the economic miracle, nor did he join the way in which the social decline that dominated art in the 1970s was represented. Instead, he created works with a romantic motif, such as the depictions of the Moselle before its expansion into an international shipping route, which are evidence of the irretrievable state of nature in the Middle Moselle valley.

However, it was also able to depict technological motifs, for which it was valued by the economy. In addition to depictions of business and occupation, in the 1960s industrial pictures were created based on technical drawings that he made especially for companies (e.g. pictures of the Moselle barrages in the construction phase). Every now and then you will also find works in which the sgraffiti technique was increasingly used and which appear symbolic and abstract. Here again, Candel's diverse talent shows.

literature

  • Gerd Bayer: Josef Candels. A Rhenish artist life; Rhein-Mosel-Verlag, Briedel / Mosel, 1999.
  • Alfons Friderichs (Ed.): Candels, Josef , In: "Personalities of the Cochem-Zell District" , Kliomedia, Trier 2004, ISBN 3-89890-084-3 , p. 66.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Candels, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter
DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH Jülich
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 1992
Place of death Enkirch