Ludwig Jonas (painter)

Self-portrait Ludwig Jonas, 1939

Ludwig Alfred Jonas (* 1887 in Bromberg ; † 1942 in Jerusalem ) is one of the most important Berlin impressionists of the 1920s. After emigrating in 1933 and his early death in 1942, the artist's work was forgotten. Jonas was heavily influenced by French Impressionism ( Vincent van Gogh and Paul Cézanne ). On this artistic basis he developed his individual painting style, which reveals an intensive examination of current artistic trends ( New Objectivity and Expressionism ); In contrast to the often rather dark earthy colors in the works of his role model Max Liebermann and most of the German impressionists, Jonas preferred strong colors and a fine, equally contrasting and well-coordinated coloring .

Life

After dropping out of medical school, Jonas studied with Emil Orlik (1870–1932) at the Berlin School of Applied Arts from 1909 . This has been considered the most important reform school in Prussia since the architect and designer Bruno Paul (1874–1968) took over its management in 1907. The students in the Orlik class included a. Felix Nussbaum , George Grosz and Hannah Höch . When Bruno Paul's school was first presented to the public in 1910, Fritz Stahl chose a graphic by Jonas as the cover picture in the “ Berlin Architecture World ”. Later the artist was also a student of Lovis Corinth for a few months and lived in Paris in 1912/13 .

The First World War marked a turning point, and it was not until the early twenties that Jonas was able to build on his early successes. In 1928, at the suggestion of Erich Heckel, he became a member of the German Association of Artists and in the same year Max Liebermann invited him to the spring exhibition of the Academy of the Arts , which he then sent twice a year. Numerous trips to France followed, where he emigrated in 1933 and from 1935, already seriously ill, to settle in Jerusalem . In 1938 he had a major exhibition in Tel Aviv . Ludwig Jonas died in Jerusalem in 1942.

Works by the artist include a. owned by the State of Israel (his urban landscape King George Ave. in Jerusalem from 1939 hangs in the Washington embassy ) and in the Berlinische Galerie (State Museum for Modern Art, Photography and Architecture).

Works

• Self-portrait, created in Jerusalem in 1939, oil on canvas, 60 × 42 cm
• Barges on a Berlin Canal, 1929, oil on canvas, 59 × 71 cm
• Studio still life (in the artist's studio), around 1930, oil on canvas, 90 × 61 cm
• Net-spinning fishermen on Corfu 1938, watercolor 31 × 46 cm

Individual evidence

1. ↑ kuenstlerbund.de: Full members of the German Association of Artists since it was founded in 1903 / Jonas, Ludwig Alfred ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (accessed on September 2, 2015) 

literature

• Article about Bruno Paul's school, class Emil Orlik, cover picture and color woodcut by Ludwig Jonas 1909, from: Berliner Architekturwelt . Vol. 12, 1910, p. 367 and P. 369.

Web links

Commons : Ludwig Jonas  - Collection of images, videos and audio files