Josef Eberz

Josef Eberz (born June 3, 1880 in Limburg an der Lahn , † August 27, 1942 in Munich ) was a German painter , graphic artist , illustrator and designer of mosaics and glass windows with a strong focus on religious topics.

Life

Biblical landscape, 1914

Josef Eberz was born in Limburg as the son of the postal secretary Heinrich Jakob Eberz (born June 22, 1848) and his wife Helene Josephine nee. Gotthardt (born August 17, 1855). He spent the first years of his life there and attended the Lessing-Gymnasium in Frankfurt am Main . From 1901 he studied at the Munich Art Academy with Franz Stuck and Peter Halm , switched to the Düsseldorf Art Academy in 1904 and to Karlsruhe that same year . In 1905 he went to the Stuttgart Art Academy , where he initially enrolled with Christian Landenberger , but then switched to the painter and color theorist Adolf Hölzel , who was only appointed to Stuttgart in 1905 and whose master class he was from 1907 to 1912. Eberz was a member of the Hölzelkreis , which also included the master class students Gertrud Alber - whom he married in Wiesbaden in 1917 -, Willi Baumeister , Paul Bollmann (1885–1944), Hans Brühlmann , Heinrich Eberhard (1884–1973), Maria Hiller-Foell (1880–1943), Ida Kerkovius , Otto Meyer-Amden , Alfred Heinrich Pellegrini , Oskar Schlemmer , August Ludwig Schmidt (1882–1936), Hermann Stenner and Alfred Wickenburg .

With this group, who exhibited together several times, Hölzel took part in the Sonderbund exhibition in Cologne in 1912 , the most important art exhibition of modernism up to that point . The exhibition comprised over 500 pictures and almost 60 sculptures, as well as around 350 handicrafts, including works by Vincent van Gogh , Edvard Munch , Paul Cézanne , Paul Gauguin and Pablo Picasso . But the old Cologne masters were also studied intensively. The group then went to Montjoie - later Monschau - in the Eifel for a long time to paint together. The visit to the exhibition, the museums and the subsequent painting stay were of great importance for the later work of Josef Eberz.

In 1913 he received his first major commission, the altarpiece for the Konviktskirche in Ehingen an der Donau . The picture with the dimensions 2.45 m × 3.80 m is usually referred to as the Herz-Jesu-Bild, but is a mixture of the motifs Carrying the Cross , Sacred Heart and Friends of Christ. This was followed by the order for a large-format Way of the Cross , which, however, did not get beyond two sample works. The ordinariate refused to accept the Way of the Cross, which the pastor had commissioned without consulting the ordinariate and the responsible ministry. Since then, however, Eberz has shown a turn to religious subjects . Eberz started out as an expressionist influenced by Futurism and Cubism ; in his later monumental works there was a strong influence of the Pittura metafisica .

After a visit to the art collector Heinrich Kirchhoff in Wiesbaden in 1915, the latter commissioned him to paint in his garden and in the botanical garden in Darmstadt . In Darmstadt Eberz came into contact with the garret circle around the publisher Joseph Würth and produced lithographs for the novella The Karsreis of Kasimir Edschmid . Kirchhoff put together a considerable collection of modern paintings , here Eberz's work was strongly represented. The lithograph portfolio Der Garten Kirchhoff, published by Goltzverlag in Munich in 1917, is evidence of the intensive contact with Kirchhoff and his garden . From Wiesbaden, Eberz also visited the former Cistercian monastery Eberbach in the Rheingau, about which he published another lithograph portfolio for the Eberbach Monastery in 1919 for Goltzverlag .

The stay in Wiesbaden in 1917 was not only significant from an artistic point of view, it was here that he married his fellow student Gertrud Alber. In Wiesbaden, the news reached him that he had been released from military service because of his health problems.

Adoration, 1916

After their long stay in Wiesbaden, the couple moved to Munich , where both had been represented by the art dealer Hans Goltz since 1914 . Goltz had also published Eberz's first lithograph portfolio, Fights , in 1915 . In contrast to the title, the sheets by no means show fighters, only victims of war.

Eberz became a member of the New Munich Secession , with which he exhibited until it was dissolved during the Nazi era, but was also a member of the Das Junge Rheinland association founded in 1919 , with which he expressed his roots in the Rhine region, which he always referred to brought. He was a founding member of the Darmstadt Secession , which was also founded in 1919 , as did the Society for Christian Art in Munich and the November Group in Berlin. During the Soviet Republic he was active in artists' councils and committees.

After the turmoil of the war and post-war Eberz and his wife moved to the south. From 1920 to 1926 they were several times in Italy and Yugoslavia , but also in Paris, from where they brought back glowing colored paintings, watercolors and drawings, after which many etchings were made. During these trips to Italy, Gertrud Eberz-Alber converted to the Catholic faith in Bologna .

In the first half of the 1920s Eberz had received various private commissions for wall paintings, for the German Trade Show Munich he painted a large fresco Joy in one of the exhibition halls in Bavaria Park in 1922 , and at the Glass Palace exhibition in 1927 he was represented with the fresco walk . With the painting of the parish church of St. Rupert in Freilassing, built by Adolf Muesmann , which lasted from 1926 to 1938, he received the first of his numerous church commissions. It was his most comprehensive work, which unfortunately was badly damaged by uncomprehending pastors and restorers . His large St. Mary's window for the Frauenkirche in Munich experienced a similar fate . It was destroyed in the war, but since the boxes were still there, it could have been exactly restored. For the cathedral priest, however, the colors were too strong, so it was recreated with a different color scheme. Other church windows were also destroyed in the war. In addition to wall paintings and colored glass windows, Eberz also designed mosaics. Here, too, his main work, the apse and triumphal arch of the Church of St. Gabriel 1930–1931 in Munich, was destroyed. The choir design in the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Weiden in the Upper Palatinate (1933–1935), for which he also created numerous windows, was preserved. His last large mosaic work in the Confessio of the Basilica of St. Willibrord in Echternach was also destroyed during the reconstruction and reorganization of the church, although it had survived the war. During the war, Eberz still created windows for Gleiwitz and Wacholdertal in Silesia ; his designs for Opole were no longer implemented due to his sudden death.

Josef Eberz ran ateliers for painting and graphics in the Munich training workshops . They arose from the teaching and experimental studios for applied and free art founded by Hermann Obrist and Wilhelm von Debschitz in 1902 , usually called the Debschitz School for short , which united in 1914 with the Munich School for Illustration and Book Industry founded by Paul Renner and Emil Preetorius in 1909 had been. In 1928 Eberz was awarded the title of professor, but on July 31, 1929 the school was closed. Maria Bauerreis (1902–1994), Hanns Lamers and Walter Lindgens (1893–1978) describe themselves as students of Eberz . In 1929, when the Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo in Rome was reopened after a long period of confiscation, Eberz was one of the first scholarship holders .

During the Nazi era, Eberz was considered a "degenerate" artist , he had difficulties exhibiting, especially since the New Munich Secession had been dissolved. He was not represented in the exhibition Degenerate Art in Munich, whose numerous works in public collections and museums had been confiscated, but at the second stop of the exhibition in Berlin with the painting Treason from 1917. If his work for the Catholic Church too went further, but the intellectual and artistic exchange with like-minded colleagues was missing. The nationalist images in the exhibitions at the Haus der Deutschen Kunst in Munich were no substitute for this. Josef Eberz died in complete isolation on August 27, 1942, and his apartment with the studio burned down in a bomb attack.

Josef Eberz was the younger brother of the religious philosopher and Hochland employee Otfried Eberz - actually Jakob Maria Remigius Eberz - (1878-1958). His widow brought out the work Katholische Soziologie ( Catholic Sociology ), which was accompanied by a panel with “Works by the congenial brother of the well-known expressionist Prof. Josef Eberz, Munich ... to illustrate the abstract philosophical conceptual world ...” (Lucia Eberz) .

plant

Paintings and watercolors

The exotic dance, 1917

Works by Eberz are represented in many private and public collections, the most comprehensive holdings are in the art collections of the city of Limburg an der Lahn.

graphic

Graphic works are also available in many private and public collections, especially in the city of Limburg. Original papers can be found in the magazines:

Das Kunstblatt , 1st year 1917, issue 4
Agathon , 1st year 1917/1918, issue 1 and issue 2/3
Die Aktion , Volume 8, 1918, Issue 9/10 and Issue 29/30 ("Special Issue Josef Eberz")
EOS , 1st year 1918, issue 1 ("Ekstatik") and issue 2 ("Mystik")
Die Schaffenden , 1st year 1919, 3rd portfolio
The sickle ,
- 1st year 1919, issue 4, issue 5 and issue 6
- 2nd year 1920, issue 11
Münchner Blätter for Poetry and Graphics , 1st year 1919, issue 5, issue 7 and issue 10
The book box , 1st year 1919, issue 5/6/7 and issue 8/9/10
Der Weg , 1st year 1919, issue 3
The Tribunal , 1st year 1919, issue 1, issue 3, issue 5 and issue 10/11
The Bookworm , Volume 10, 1920, Issue 7/8
Der Ararat , 2nd year 1921, issue 7
Eros ,
- 1st year 1919 (issue was confiscated)
- 3rd year 1921, issue 1

Illustrated books

Erich Jäger: The great invalid and other strange stories about old soldiers. Stuttgart 1915. (five illustrations after pen drawings)
Wilhelm Rath: ways to the bookseller. Wiesbaden 1917. (two illustrations after pen drawings)
Curt Morek: The radiant person. Munich 1918. (15 illustrations after pen drawings)

Bibliophile books

Kasimir Edschmid: The Karlsreis. Darmstadt 1918. (seven lithographs)
Kurt Hiller: Ineffable brotherhood. Wolgast 1918. (special edition with six lithographs, normal edition with two lithographs)
Stephan Brock: The torch is great! Wolgast 1918. (a lithograph)
Curt Morek: Pole of Eros. Hanover 1920. (seven lithographs)
Heinrich Heine: Vitzliputzli . Munich 1920. (four etchings)
Ech-en-Aton , sun hymn. Munich 1920. (an etching)
Niels Hoyer: Night Song. Hamburg 1921. (three etchings)
Johann Wolfgang Goethe: hymn to nature. Hamburg 1922. (three etchings)
William Shakespeare: Sonnets to the Beloved Boy. Hamburg 1922. (four etchings)
Charles Baudelaire : Poèmes choisis. Munich 1922. (22 etchings)
Alexander Pushkin : The stone guest. Munich 1923. (nine lithographs, eight reproductions - head and tail pieces - after pen drawings)
Heinrich Heine: book of songs. Munich 1923. (15 hand-colored gelatin etchings)

Anthologies, catalogs, calendars

Neue Kunst Hans Goltz Munich, catalog of the 32nd exhibition January 1917 (a lithograph)
Neue Kunst Hans Goltz Munich, catalog of the 44th exhibition April / May 1918 (cover lithograph)
Galerie Caspari Munich, catalog of the graphic exhibition of the New Secession, spring 1918. (two of a total of 23 lithographs)
Max Fischer: Josef Eberz and the new path to religious painting. Munich 1918. (Special edition with a lithograph, normal edition with a cover lithograph)
Yearbook of Young Art 1920. Leipzig 1920. (a lithograph)
H. von Wedderkopp: German graphics of the west. Dresden 1923. (special edition with an etching)
Karl Diez: Black Griffin. Rudolstadt 1925. (a reproduction after a woodcut)
Willi Geißler: Greifenkalender 1925. Rudolstadt 1925. (a reproduction after woodcut)
Willi Geißler: Greifenkalender 1926. Rudolstadt 1926. (two woodcuts - possibly also reproductions)

Portfolios

Struggles. Goltz-Verlag, Munich 1915. (15 original lithographs, one more as a cover lithograph)
War picture sheet by German artists , 3rd portfolio. Goltz-Verlag, Munich 1915. (an original lithograph)
The Kirchhoff Garden Wiesbaden. Goltz-Verlag, Munich 1917. (ten original lithographs, one more as a cover lithograph)
Eberbach Monastery. Goltz-Verlag, Munich 1919. (ten original lithographs, one more as a cover lithograph)
Munich Secession. 25 original lithographs. Franz Hanfstaengl, Munich 1919/1920. (a lithograph)
Visions. Goltz-Verlag, Munich 1919. (twelve woodcuts, another as a cover woodcut)
Josef von Eichendorf: Premonition and the present. Dr. Benno Filser Kunstverlag, Stuttgart 1919. (33 etchings)
I. Portfolio of the Düsseldorf Society for Contemporary Art. Bagel-Kunstverlag, Düsseldorf 1920. (an original etching)
Night circus. Goltz-Verlag, Munich 1920. (six woodcuts, another as a cover woodcut)
Calla. Graphic portfolio of Munich artists. Johannes Albrecht Kunstverlag, Munich 1922. (an etching)
Calla. Festival folder of Munich artists. Johannes Albrecht Kunstverlag, Munich 1922. (an etching)
III. Portfolio of the Düsseldorf Society for Contemporary Art. Southern landscapes. Bagel-Kunstverlag, Düsseldorf 1923. (six etchings and a cover lithograph)
The stone guest. Orchis-Verlag, Munich 1923. (eight hand-colored gelatin etchings)
Nights. 5 woodcuts. Dreieck-Verlag, Munich / Berlin 1923. Second series.
The first portfolio of the Darmstadt Secession. Dachstube-Verlag, Darmstadt 1924. (a lithograph)
New German Artists Guild. Third exchange of graphics, Christmas 1924 (a woodcut)

Wall and ceiling pictures

around 1920: cycle of murals in the music salon of Villa Kanter in Feldafing (the house was demolished due to dry rot.)
1922: Mural Joy in the exhibition hall of the German Trade Show Munich 1922 (destroyed after the end of the exhibition)
around 1925: Murals in Villa Gutmann and Villa Eisenberg in Nuremberg (the houses and their locations have not been determined.)
around 1925: mural in the music room for Irene Reichert in Munich (the room or its location have not been determined.)
1926–1938: painting of the parish church of St. Rupert in Freilassing (heavily changed or damaged)
1927: Mural walk in the Glaspalast exhibition 1927 in Munich (removed after the end of the exhibition)
1934: St. Petrus fresco on the choir wall of St. Peter's Church in Taching am See
1939: six ceiling medallions in the church of St. John the Baptist in Illdorf an der Donau

Mosaics

1928–1929: Choir wall mosaics Holy women of all classes gain strength from Jesus' death on the cross in the Frauenfriedenskirche in Frankfurt am Main

1927–1928: Mosaics of St. Mary with Child and St. Michael behind the side altars of the Christ the King Church in Rosenheim

1929–1930: Choir wall mosaics Christ as World Redeemer between two angels in the parish church of St. Georg in Stuttgart

1930–1936: Large-format Stations of the Cross on a side wall of the nave of the parish church of St. Georg in Stuttgart

1930–1931: Choral mosaic Christ the King as judge of the world between angels in the Church of St. Gabriel in Munich (destroyed by the war)

1930–1931: Annunciation mosaic on the triumphal arch of St. Gabriel's Church in Munich (destroyed in the war)

1932: Mosaics of the side altar retables Marienleben and Josefsleben in the Church of St. Gabriel in Munich ( Marienleben changed)

1933–1934: The rear wall of the choir Christ the King on the cross between Maria and Johannes in the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Weiden (Upper Palatinate)

1934–1935: nave end walls to the choir floating angels in the Herz-Jesu-Kirche in Weiden (Upper Palatinate)

1938: Mosaics in the confession of St. Willibrord , Pope Sergius , Charlemagne , St. Bonifatius , St. Hubertus , St. Irmina , St. Kunigunde in the St. Willibrord basilica in Echternach (during the reconstruction and redesign of the basilica after 1945 destroyed)

1942: St. Agnes altarpiece in a church in Hamm (Westphalia)

Colored glass window

Christ-König-Kirche, Rosenheim 1927–1928. Choir rear wall window Christ as Judge of the World - destroyed in the war

St. Konrad Church, Freiburg im Breisgau around 1930. Choir window Christ as World Judge - destroyed in the war

Frauenkirche, Munich 1931/1957. Marienleben window above the Salvator Chapel - destroyed in the war, based on the original boxes, but re-manufactured in a different color

Church of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Weiden / Upper Palatinate 1933. Nave window 7 works of mercy and 7 sacraments ; Baptistery window Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan ; Gallery window Herz-Jesu ; Symbol window in the lower church crown of thorns ; Victory crown ; Virginity ; Marriage covenant

Town hall, Ingolstadt 1936. Symbol window in the wedding room - destroyed in the war

Church of St. Bartholomew 1939. Window of the Annunciation - the church was demolished, the window went under

Church of St. Peter and Paul, Gleiwitz 1939-1941. 3 double windows St. Peter and St. Paul , St. Adalbert and St. Hyazinth , St. Hedwig and St. Barbara - the St. Adalbert and St. Hyazinth window was destroyed during the war and replaced by an adapted window

Christ-König-Kirche Wacholdertal / Oberschlesien 1940. Choir window Christ-König

literature

Julius Baum : Eberz, Josef . In: Ulrich Thieme (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists from Antiquity to the Present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 10 : Dubolon – Erlwein . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1914, p. 308 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
Max Fischer: Josef Eberz and the new path to religious painting. Goltz, Munich 1918.
Leopold Zahn: Josef Eberz. (= Young Art .) Klinkhardt & Biermann, Leipzig 1920.
Irene Rörig and others: Josef Eberz in Italy. Exhibition catalog, 1990.
Franz Josef Hamm: Josef Eberz. Painting. Watercolors. Graphic. Exhibition catalog, Limburg 1994.
Franz Josef Hamm: Josef Eberz. Construction and space-related work. Murals. Mosaics. Window. Altarpieces. Exhibition catalog and catalog raisonné, Limburg 1997.
Franz Josef Hamm: Josef Eberz. Works for presses and publishers. Printed catalog raisonné, Part One. Limburg 2005.
Numerous articles in the magazines German Art and Decoration , Die Kunst , Christian Art , Fire , Das Kunstblatt , Die Rheinlande .

Web links

Commons : Josef Eberz - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikisource: Josef Eberz - Sources and full texts

personal data
SURNAME	Eberz, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH	June 3, 1880
PLACE OF BIRTH	Limburg on the Lahn
DATE OF DEATH	August 27, 1942
Place of death	Munich