Kurt Roth (painter)

Kurt Roth (* 1899 in Ratingen ; † October 30, 1975 in Uetersen ) was a German painter of the 20th century .

Life

He was born in Ratingen near Düsseldorf in 1899 and from 1920 lived in Uetersen with his father, the painter Ludwig Max Roth , in the Uetersen monastery in very modest circumstances. He received his training as an artist at the art academies in Düsseldorf, Breslau , Budapest , Copenhagen and London .

Kurt Roth, who was also known as a portrait painter among others in the Hanseatic Society of Hamburg , preferred to paint his pictures in oil with motifs from the Holstein homeland and repeatedly many motifs from the old town in Uetersen , where he lived.

Roth was a great admirer of Adolph Menzel . He once said about this: “He dedicated his entire life to drawing. He was only able to do it because he kept practicing. Talent and aptitude are just the basics. ” This was also the case for Kurt Roth.

He spent the last years of his life in abject poverty . At times only the former mayor of Uetersen, Heinrich Wilckens, was his only customer. He bought his pictures on the grounds: "You can't let the poor monastery painter starve to death" . And had the pictures hung in public buildings and schools. Shortly before his death, the painter took stock of his life and stated: “Today I am poor. It might have been better to become a drawing teacher after graduation . But life is over now. "

Kurt Roth died lonely on October 30, 1975 in his small attic apartment.

Today the memory of the “poor monastery painter” is kept alive in the Heimatmuseum Uetersen and honored with a large exhibition .

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• Uetersen City History Museum (2005) (permanent exhibition on the 1st floor)