Karl Ernst Osthaus

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Karl Ernst Osthaus . Painting by Ida Gerhardi (1903). The painting is exhibited in the Osthaus Museum Hagen .
Portrait of Ernst Osthaus . Painting by Bernhard Pankok (1918)

Karl Ernst Osthaus (born April 15, 1874 in Hagen ; † March 25, 1921 in Meran ) was one of the most important German art patrons and art collectors of the early 20th century.

Life

Origin and youth

Karl Ernst Osthaus was born on April 15, 1874 in Hagen, the son of Carl Ernst August Osthaus and Selma Emilie Funke. The father was a banker of the Essen Credit Institution , the mother came from a family of industrialists. In the growing economy of the Ruhr area , the family had quickly achieved prosperity. Karl Ernst Osthaus showed aesthetic inclinations early on, which, however, met with little understanding from his father. After graduating from high school in August 1892, he sent him to the Mühlenthal spinning mill in Dieringhausen as a commercial apprentice , of which he was a partner, so that Karl Ernst Osthaus could prove himself in business life. After a nervous breakdown, his father allowed him to break off his apprenticeship after a short time.

Education

From the summer semester of 1893, Osthaus studied philosophy and art history in Kiel , Berlin , Strasbourg , Vienna , Bonn and Munich . During his studies he made contact with right-wing, nationalist groups. So he became a member of the Association of German Students in Strasbourg and Berlin . Despite this political location, Osthaus developed an increasingly radical taste in art. During this time he was also influenced by Julius Langbehn's book Rembrandt as an educator . Following his criticism of an increasingly degenerate modern culture, Osthaus developed the idea of ​​positively influencing life by promoting art and culture. In addition to Langbehn, Friedrich Nietzsche also exerted influence on Osthaus, as did his position as an employee of Julius Meier-Graefe , Harry Graf Kessler and Alfred Lichtwark . In this way he came into contact with numerous new ideas that shaped the art world in Germany in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In 1896, Osthaus inherited a fortune from his maternal grandparents that should allow him to put his ideas into practice in the future. After completing his studies, he lived again in his hometown of Hagen from 1898 and married Gertrud Colsman (1880–1975), the daughter of a textile manufacturer from Langenberg , there in 1899 .

Cultural activity in Hagen

Osthaus' first cultural project in Hagen was the establishment of a museum called the Folkwang Museum. It was originally intended to house the Osthaus natural history collection, but the focus shifted to art even before it opened. Between 1898 and 1902, the Berlin architect Carl Gérard built the museum building in the neo-renaissance style , which today houses the Osthaus Museum Hagen . The interior was designed by the Belgian artist Henry van de Velde in Art Nouveau style . The contact with the Belgian artist and designer came about after Osthaus had read an essay by Meier-Graefes about him in 1900. This moment is described as an aesthetic conversion experience that Osthaus opened up for modernity. Van de Velde not only designed the interior of the museum, but also influenced Osthaus's art purchases. On July 9, 1902, the Folkwang Museum was opened as an art museum. The scientific collection remained in the basement for some time until it gradually disappeared completely from the presentation.

The Folkwang painting school was founded as early as 1901 . Artists like Christian Rohlfs , Emil Rudolf Weiß , Reinhard Hilker , Jan Thorn Prikker and Milly Steger were invited by Osthaus to Hagen and had the opportunity to develop free from economic hardship. Emil Nolde called the museum a "heavenly symbol in western Germany".

Osthaus also tried in a broader sense to shape social life through art. So he suggested founding an artist colony , workshops and a teaching institute. In this context, the “ Hagen silversmiths ” led by Matthieu Lauweriks and the “ Hagen handcraft seminar ” were created.

The German Werkbund

Osthaus was a member of the Deutscher Werkbund and in 1909 finally suggested the establishment of another museum, the Deutsches Museum für Kunst in Handel und Gewerbe , whose concept and work were closely related to the goals of the Deutscher Werkbund. Also in 1909, the Sonderbund was founded in Düsseldorf as an association of artists such as Walter Ophey , Max Clarenbach , August Deusser , collectors and museum people under his chairmanship. The aim was to promote artistic activities and encourage collaboration between artists and the public.

Last years of life

Tomb in the garden of the Hohenhof

In 1916, Osthaus was called up for military service as an unserved trooper and suffered severe suffering, as a result of which he finally died in Merano in 1921. In 1919 he published his book “Grundzüge der Stilentwicklung” in Folkwang-Verlag. Because of this work that gave him Philosophical Faculty of the University of Würzburg , the honorary doctorate . He received a second honorary doctorate from the Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen . In the gardens of the Hohenhof the stands of Johannes Ilmari Auerbach created in 1922 tomb of Osthaus, the 1971 from Merano to Hagen translocated was.

The Hagen impulse

The “ Hagen Impulse ” is now a well-established concept in art history all over the world, but the relatively short period of Osthaus's activity was nothing more than an impulse for the city of Hagen.

Just one year after his death, the Osthaus' heirs sold the majority of his art collections to the city of Essen , which - supported by the local Rhenish-Westphalian coal syndicate - made an attractive financial offer and rebuilt the Folkwang Museum in Essen . The collections of the German Museum of Art in Commerce and Industry came to the Kaiser Wilhelm Museum in Krefeld .

Today the Osthaus Museum Hagen continues the tradition in Hagen .

The Folkwang Museum

Under the influence of van de Velde, the Folkwang Museum became a total work of art. Every element such as decorative motifs, exhibition showcases, door handles and railings were connected to form a harmonious whole. Van de Velde's goal was to develop a formal language freed from historical remains. This was determined by organic shapes, wavy lines and light colors. This resulted in a more neutral museum building in which the exhibits could unfold.

In addition to works by Paul Cézanne , Anselm Feuerbach , Paul Gauguin , Vincent van Gogh , Ferdinand Hodler , Henri Matisse , George Minne , Pierre-Auguste Renoir , Auguste Rodin , Georges Seurat and Paul Signac , there are above all the collections of European applied arts and non-European art, which made the reputation of the museum in the first few years. Although such works were also found in other large art museums in Germany, Osthaus, as a private person, was able to make much more free acquisitions of this kind.

Garden city of Hohenhagen

Osthaus tried to stimulate his fellow citizens to good and modern building through exemplary buildings and to break through the desolation of the industrial age through applied art . Building projects such as the garden city of Hohenhagen with the Hohenhof (built between 1906 and 1908 according to plans by Henry van de Velde ), the workers' settlement Walddorfstrasse by Richard Riemerschmid from Munich and single-family houses in the garden city of Emst , as well as the first crematorium on Prussian soil by Peter Behrens came about in the adjacent Delstern district. Osthaus's original plan was generously designed and included the entire Hohenhagen complex with its Hohenhof center as well as axes to various other locations and buildings on the high plateau of the garden city of Emst. Gardens, a museum, a school and an artists' colony were supposed to create a structural and intellectual complex for which Bruno Taut designed a glass tower, a museum building, the Folkwang School , a building for the Folkwang publishing house and various plazas. In addition to Taut and van de Velde, Peter Behrens, JLM Lauweriks, Adolf Loos , August Endell and Walter Gropius participated .

aftermath

In 1899 Osthaus commissioned the photographer Hermann Burchardt with the purchase of the splendid wood paneling of a salon in a Damascus house. The heirs found these wooden coffers from 1810 in the attic of his villa after Osthaus' death and donated them to the Dresden Völkerkundemuseum . There they were brought to safety from the war destruction in 1945, then forgotten and only found again in 1997 in the museum depot. The find, known today as the “Dresden Damascus Room”, has been the focus of the permanent exhibition in the Dresden Japanese Palace after its careful restoration since 2012 .

Fonts

  • (with Heinrich Reifferscheid ): Old buildings in the city of Hagen i. W. and their immediate surroundings. (Portfolio with etchings and accompanying text) Folkwang, Hagen 1904. (as reprint : Bookmark, Hagen 1993, ISBN 3-930217-00-7 .)
  • In the fight for art. The answer to the “Protest of German Artists” with contributions from German artists, gallery managers, collectors and writers. Munich 1911, pp. 16-19.
  • Folkwang Museum. Modern art, sculpture, painting, graphics. Volume 1, Hagen 1912.
  • The shop window. In: The art in industry and trade (= yearbook of the Deutscher Werkbund 1913. ) Jena 1913, pp. 59–69.
  • The station. In: Der Verkehr (= Yearbook of the German Werkbund 1914. ) Jena 1914, pp. 33–41.
  • Basics of style development. (Dissertation, University of Würzburg) Hagener Verlagsanstalt, Hagen 1918 (with curriculum vitae pp. I – VI).
  • Memories of Renoir. In: Feuer, Illustrated monthly magazine for art and artistic culture , 1st year 1919/1920, pp. 313–318.
  • Van de Velde. Life and work of the artist. Hagen 1920.
posthumously
  • Speeches and writings. Folkwang - Werkbund - Labor Council. (Ed. By Rainer Stamm) Verlag der Buchhandlung König, Cologne 2002.

literature

  • Tayfun Belgin , Christoph Dorsz (Ed.): The Folkwang Impulse. The museum from 1902 until today . (Catalog for the exhibition in the Osthaus Museum Hagen, October 21, 2012 to January 13, 2013) Lüdenscheid 2012, ISBN 978-3-942831-53-6 .
  • Rouven Lotz , Katja Stromberg: August Endell and Karl Ernst Osthaus. Projects for the garden suburb of Hohenhagen. In: Nicola Bröcker, Gisela Möller, Christiane Salge (eds.): August Endell. 1871-1925. Architect and form artist. Petersberg 2012, ISBN 978-3-86568-654-1 .
  • Rouven Lotz: The Hohenhof in Hagen. The country house for Karl Ernst Osthaus by Henry van de Velde. Hagen 2009, ISBN 978-3-932070-89-1 .
  • Rouven Lotz: The artist as a teacher for trade and commerce. Johan Thorn Prikker's station window in Hagen. In: Myriam Wierschowski (Ed.): “Paint yourself with the sun”. Johan Thorn Prikker and the dawn of modernity in glass painting. (Exhibition catalog) Linnich 2007, ISBN 3-9810046-2-0 .
  • Andrea Sinzel: But the idea wants to grow further. Planning and construction of the Hagen workers' settlement "Walddorf" by Richard Riemerschmid. (With a contribution by Christina Bleszynski) New Folkwang Verlag in the Karl Ernst Osthaus Museum, Hagen 2002, ISBN 3-926242-44-2 .
  • Lutz years: The Folkwang publishing house. World museum in book form. In: Börsenblatt für den deutschen Buchhandel , 168th year 2001, pp. 551–555. ISSN  0940-0044
  • Manfred Osthaus : Letters to Karl Ernst Osthaus. (= Patrimonia , Volume 189.) (edited by the Kulturstiftung der Länder in conjunction with the KEOM Hagen) Hagen / Berlin 2000. ISSN  0941-7036
  • Rainer Stamm : The Folkwang-Verlag. On the way to an imaginary museum. Booksellers Association, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-7657-2188-3 .
  • Barbara Gerstein, Regine Sonntag:  Osthaus, Karl Ernst. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 19, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-428-00200-8 , p. 624 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Birgit Schulte (Ed.): On the way to a tangible utopia. The Folkwang projects by Bruno Taut and Karl Ernst Osthaus. New Folkwang-Verlag in the Karl Ernst Osthaus-Museum, Hagen 1994, ISBN 3-926242-15-9 .
  • Herta Hesse-Frielinghaus (eds.): Emil and Ada Nolde. Karl Ernst and Gertrud Osthaus. Correspondence. Bouvier Verlag Herbert Grundmann, Bonn 1985, ISBN 3-416-01879-6 .
  • Hans Kruse: Karl Ernst Osthaus. In: Karl Maßmann, Rudolf Paul Oßwald (ed.): VDSter. 50 years of work for people and the state. Dedicated to the associations of German students on August 6, 1931. Berlin 1931, pp. 146-154.

Web links

Commons : Karl Ernst Osthaus  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Walter Erben, Karl Ernst Osthaus, Way of Life and Thoughts , in: Hertha Hesse-Frielinghaus et al., Karl Ernst Osthaus. Life and Work , Recklinghausen 1971, ISBN 3-7647-0223-0 . Pp. 22-24.
  2. ^ Hans Güldner, Kyffhäuser Association of German Student Associations : Directory of honorary members and old men. Gütersloh 1899, p. 26.
  3. ↑ James J. Sheehan, History of the German Art Museums , Munich 2002, ISBN 3-406-49511-7 . P. 262.
  4. ↑ James J. Sheehan, History of the German Art Museums , Munich 2002. P. 212 and 262f.
  5. ↑ a b c James J. Sheehan, History of the German Art Museums , Munich 2002. P. 263.
  6. ↑ James J. Sheehan, History of the German Art Museums , Munich 2002. p. 264.
  7. ↑ James J. Sheehan, History of the German Art Museums , CH Beck, Munich 2002. P. 252.
  8. ↑ Claudia Ott: The inscriptions of the Damascus room in the Dresden Ethnological Museum. In: Lorenz Korn, Eva Orthmann, Florian Schwarz (eds.): The boundaries of the world. Arabica et Iranica ad honorem Heinz Gaube . Reichert, Wiesbaden 2008, p. 211.
  9. ↑ The Dresden Damascus Room and home textiles from the Orient. ( Memento from April 8, 2015 in the web archive archive.today ) Museum für Völkerkunde Dresden
  10. ↑ The Dresden Damascus Room and home textiles from the Orient. ( Memento from July 8, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
personal data
SURNAME Osthaus, Karl Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art patron and art collector
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1874
PLACE OF BIRTH Hagen
DATE OF DEATH March 25, 1921
Place of death Meran