Kurt Weiss
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Kurt Weiss (born January 23, 1895 in Laa an der Thaya ; † September 3, 1966 in Wolfsberg ) was an Austrian painter .
Life
Kurt Weiss was born in Schloss Laa an der Thaya ( Lower Austria ) as a teacher's son. He graduated from the Realgymnasium in Klagenfurt in 1914 . As a young man, after graduating from high school, he served as a one-year volunteer and later as a lieutenant in the First World War in Galicia . His constant companions were sketch pads and guitar.
From 1919 Weiss attended the Vienna Art Academy , where he completed four years of general art education and another four years of special training with Professor Ferdinand Andri (1875–1956). Andri encouraged the young artists to be creative with individualism - this is how the second half of the course turns into a constructive dialogue between teaching experience and spontaneous, new ideas. Among other things, he learned the basics of wall painting techniques and stained glass. He later said: "I came to the realization that there is no sharp separation between art and craft, that the two merge into one another, so the boundaries are very blurred." He later became a co-founder of the Wiener Werkstätte .
In 1925 the painter married Hilde Rueskefer. His manual skills brought him in 1928 as a teacher at the vocational school in Vienna, painter department, where he worked until 1933. During these years his family bought a piece of land on Lake Klopein , where his father built a small house. In 1935 Kurt Weiss became a member of the Carinthian Art Association . In 1936 he was awarded the rare Silver State Medal for Fine Arts. In 1937 he came as a teacher at the master school of the Austrian painting trade in order to devote himself to the training of the next generation of craftsmen and received the decree on April 20, 1942, to become a teacher. In 1943 he was called up for military service. After the end of the war, his appointment as a student councilor during the Nazi regime resulted in an occupational ban until denazification .
From 1944 on, Kurt Weiss only carried out commissioned work for a while and lived under the most modest of circumstances. After he was rehabilitated, he taught at the master school for painting in Baden near Vienna. There were numerous portraits of important personalities, he received numerous private commissions from prominent families and commissions from the clergy. In 1955 Kurt Weiss was presented with the Golden Badge of Honor of the Republic of Austria.
Throughout the years he spent as often as he could in the studio on Lake Klopein. Among his acquaintances and friends were the South Tyrolean Luis Trenker and Fritz Weber , architect Franz Wallack , architect Othmar Egger , architect and painter Clemens Holzmeister , the Graz filmmaker Hans Wagula , Herbert Boeckl , Switbert Lobisser , Otto Bestereimer , Hermann Poschinger , sculptor Hermann Musger , Josef Prokop , Arnold Clementschitsch , Hermann Bauch , Karl Bauer and Werner Berg . The young Giselbert Hoke was also taken to the painter's house in the summer of 1949. Kurt Weiss recognized the talent of the "young savage" Hoke and advised him to visit the academy. Hoke later said: "I spent the most beautiful summer I have ever experienced next to Kurt Weiss in his studio on Lake Klopein" (quote from the catalog of the Slama Gallery, 1968).
In 1959 his first wife died. In 1960, Kurt Weiss retired forever to his studio on the Klopeiner See. In 1961 he married again; Helene Strauch - muse, model and mother of his sons Oswin and Renker. Kurt Weiss died on September 3, 1966 of complications from a gastric bleeding.
Exhibitions
- Art Association Carinthia , Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt, 1961.
- Galerie Slama, memorial exhibition, Klagenfurt, 1968.
- Gallery in the painter's house, Seelach am Klopeiner See, from 1982 during the summer months
- Gallery at the Lendhafen, Klagenfurt
- New gallery, Graz
- Gallery on the city wall, Wolfsberg
- Wasserhofen Castle, Kühnsdorf
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Weiss's work consists of numerous oil paintings , watercolors , drawings and sketches . They lead the viewer from his youth through Art Nouveau , Art Deco , New Objectivity , Expressionist scenarios and Impressionist natural landscapes. The painter and graphic artist Weiss did not submit to rigid dogmas.
Kurt Weiss' oil paintings are vital, his watercolors show on the one hand soft, delicately nuanced shades of color, on the other hand strong, expressive colors . The drawings and body studies of the naked person show an affinity for the Nötscher circle , especially for nude compositions by Franz Wiegeles , but also for nude studies by Anton Kolig . The contours and lines are determined, disciplined and set sparingly, Kurt Weiss always remains a discreet observer. With profound humor and precise powers of observation, studies and anecdotes were created, some of which were exaggerated, comical or only pointed with color.
Kurt Weiss also created large-scale works such as frescoes, sgraffiti, glass windows, mosaics and monuments. Many of them no longer exist today.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Weiss, Kurt |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Austrian painter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 23, 1895 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Laa an der Thaya |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd September 1966 |
| Place of death | Wolfsberg |