Josef Hehl

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Josef Hehl (born March 4, 1885 in Mülheim-Speldorf ; † August 5, 1953 in Xanten ) was a potter and sculptor and is one of the most important German ceramic artists of the early 20th century.

Life

Josef Hehl was born in 1885 as the 13th of 14 children of a brickworker . In addition to working in his father's company, he did not go through any regular training and initially saw himself as a craftsman without artistic ambitions. In 1910 he and his brother Fritz founded their own pottery in Hochemmerich . In 1912 he took over a disused pottery in Krefeld-Bockum. In 1913 his wife died; In 1914 he married Sophie Hock from Krefeld. During the First World War he came into French captivity, where he was able to work with wood, bone and ivory carvings.

After his return from captivity in 1920, sick and penniless, he first made brick moldings in order to earn money. As early as 1924 he had his first exhibition participation in the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum . The extent to which Hehl, who was described as “ very quiet and withdrawn ”, acquired knowledge of artistic techniques and ceramic firing processes is largely unknown. In August 1929 Hehl moved to Xanten , where he lived and worked until his death on August 5, 1953. In 1930 his second wife died; some time later he married Änne Storck. In 1945 his house and workshop were partially destroyed by a bomb attack. From parts of his damaged work, he built a “shard hill”. In 1950 a large retrospective exhibition took place in the Hetjens Museum . In the 50s and 60s a selection of works was exhibited under the name "Hehl Collection" in the town hall of Rheinhausen on the Lower Rhine. The city of Duisburg handed this collection over to the city of Xanten in 2003. The Ceramics Museum in Sonsbeck was opened with a Hehl exhibition in 2008 , in which a separate room has been set up in the Lower Rhine Ceramics Collection for Hehl's works. In Xanten and Duisburg streets were named after him.

Since May 6, 2011, there has been a permanent exhibition of Hehl's works in a room in the Dreigiebelhaus in the “House of Culture” in Xanten .

plant

In addition to a large number of vases , plates, bowls and other ceramics , Hehl created large and small sculptures and picture plates in underglaze painting . The sculptures and picture plates deal primarily with religious topics or their motifs are taken from the world of work, they show animals or ideal images from the family world. A representative selection from all creative areas, a total of 435 works, was given as a gift to the city of Xanten by the Duisburg Lehmbruck Museum in 2003 with the condition that it be made permanently accessible to the public. In addition, many of his noteworthy works are now privately owned or are exhibited in the Tietz Ceramic Museum in Sonsbeck.

Quote

“ Hehl's creative fields include vessels, sculptures, picture surfaces and the subtle world of glazes. Just as he reduces sculpture to corporeal basic forms and strives for an economical external simplicity, he dispenses with any decorative plastic or relief-like additions to vessels. Usable, simple hollow bodies determine the twisted, clearly structured vessel shape, which impresses with its beauty of proportion. "

- Ekkart blade

Exhibitions (selection)

Works (selection)

year title Art Dimensions abode
1931 Sheaf-bearer Clay sculpture H 80 cm, 42 × 27 cm City of Xanten
1932 Klompentanz Clay sculpture H 94 cm, 48 × 44 cm Xanten town hall
1928 and 1935 Corpus and Pietà Oak wood and clay plastic Body H 190 cm; Pietà H 65 cm, Village church in Friemersheim
1940 vase Volume; Tin glaze H 44 cm Hetjens Museum , Düsseldorf
1947 triptych Image plate with underglaze painting H 70 cm, W 40 cm Sparkasse Moers, Xanten branch
1951 Blast furnace tapping Clay sculpture H 50, D 35 Private ownership, Krefeld

literature

  • Carl Hanns Erkelenz: The art potter Josef Hehl . Books of the bridge, Duisburg 1930
  • Friedrich Albert Meyer: Pannestrieker Pottbäcker sculptor. Josef Hehl and his life path . Rheinhausen 1953
  • Ekkart Klinge, Wilhelm Müller, Dieter Feller: Josef Hehl. 1985-1953 . Xanten City Culture Association, Xanten Regional Museum 2003 (exhibition catalog)
  • Wilhelm Müller: Josef Hehl (1885–1953). Potters and sculptors . In: Ceramic magazine . No. 12/1978. Lübeck
  • Wilhelm Müller, Reiner Schütt-Bluhm: Josef Hehl (1885–1953). Potters and sculptors (guide of the regional museum Xanten; vol. 5). Rheinland-Verlag, Cologne 1977, ISBN 3-7927-0354-8 (exhibition catalog)
  • Horst Strerath: Josef Hehl: Appreciated by Felix Timmermans as a great artist . In: Rheinische Post from December 24, 1986
  • Why did he stay unknown? Works by Josef Hehl in the Xanten Regional Museum . In: Niederrheinische Blätter. No. 2/2003. Supplement to the Rheinische Post from April 30, 2003

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ekkart Klinge, Wilhelm Müller, Dieter Feller: Josef Hehl. 1985-1953 . Regional Museum Xanten 2003
  2. ↑ Joseph Pogorzalek: From the basement to the museum . In: Rheinische Post from May 7, 2011
  3. ↑ Ekkart Klinge, Wilhelm Müller, Dieter Feller: Josef Hehl. 1985-1953 . Xanten 2003
  4. ↑ The ceramicist Josef Hehl . In: Josef Hehl. 1985-1953 . Regional Museum Xanten 2003, page 40
personal data
SURNAME Hehl, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German potter and ceramic artist
DATE OF BIRTH March 4, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Mülheim-Speldorf
DATE OF DEATH 5th August 1953
Place of death Xanten