Martin Ritter

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Martin Ritter at the age of 95

Martin Ritter (born February 25, 1905 in Glauchau , † May 14, 2001 in Baldham near Munich ) was a German painter and graphic artist . He is counted among the artists of expressive realism of the lost generation . He created works in oil, watercolor, tempera, ink and charcoal using a variety of techniques. They depict flower still lifes and landscapes or deal with basic human experiences in archetypal, mythological and sacred motifs.

Life

childhood

Martin Ritter was born on February 25, 1905 in Glauchau. He grew up with three younger brothers and an older sister with his mother Martha Ritter (née Schröder) and his father Max Ritter. His biological father was Richard Warth, a portrait and landscape photographer. At the age of 5 he began to make artistic paper cuts. As a child prodigy, he was passed around the courts of the Saxon nobility. In 1912 August Wilhelm von Prussia commissioned him to do a paper cutting job for his son, an ABC in Pictures . Ferdinand Avenarius drew attention to him in the magazine Der Kunstwart ; Bruno Paul , his first teacher, recommended him to the art academy.

Youth and education

After graduating from secondary school in Glauchau, Martin Ritter began studying with the painter and lithographer Otto Mueller at the Breslau Art Academy in 1922 . In 1923 he followed his teacher Karl Hanusch as his master student at the State Art School for the Textile Industry in Plauen . Called back home because of an illness of his father, he studied from 1924 at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts . He was a master student of the painter Richard Dreher and made the acquaintance of other academy professors such as Otto Hettner , Otto Dix , Richard Müller and their students. His works were u. a. shown in exhibitions of the Dresden Art Cooperative at the Sächsischer Kunstverein on the Brühlschen Terrassen or the artists' association Dresden on Lennéstraße. In 1932 he completed his studies with an honorary certificate.

Flower painter

In 1932 the painter married Helene Stephan and settled in Dresden. In 1938 and 1940 he showed pictures at the Great German Art Exhibition in the House of German Art in Munich (today: House of Art ), a performance exhibition of art under National Socialism. Heinrich Goebbels bought a delphinium watercolor. Since his flower still lifes corresponded to the taste of the times of National Socialism, he was offered a professorship at an art academy. But he refused this u. a. due to his anti-fascist attitude. He lived and worked afterwards in the private circle of his painter friends: Wilhelm Lachnit and his brother Max, an architect and sculptor, Fritz Skade , Kurt Schütze , Ernst Bursche . His studies in the Sarrasani circus and in the ballet hall of the Dresden theater brought him into the circle of artists around the dance teacher Gret Palucca and he made friends with the expressive dancer Dore Hoyer .

freelance artist

Martin Ritter survived the war as a civilian in Dresden. In the devastating bomb attack on the city in February 1945, all of his belongings and almost all of his previous works were destroyed. Ulrich, born in 1945, was taken in in 1946 and later adopted. In 1948 the family moved from Saxony to Rheydt-Odenkirchen in the Rhineland. During this time, the painter struggled with portrait studies and the design of stage sets, costumes and tavern walls in carnival and other occasional commissions.

In 1949 the family came to Neustadt an der Weinstrasse / Pfalz, where they were accepted in 1951 in the house of the wealthy music teacher Else Wappler. Martin Ritter's pictures and graphics were subsequently shown in numerous exhibitions in museums and galleries, primarily in Rheinhessen, but also in other parts of the country. In 1953 he was a founding member of the Palatinate Artists' Cooperative , a group that combined traditional and vivid modernism. He worked with the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Pfälzer Künstler ( apk ), the most traditional artists' association in Rhineland-Palatinate, and he became a member of the Italian Accademia Italia delle Arti e del Lavoro .

The city of Neustadt honored him on his 50th birthday in 1955 with three parallel exhibitions. For churches and public secular buildings, glass windows, sgraffiti , mosaics and stone paintings were created using a new type of technology developed in-house. From 1958 Martin Ritter could be found in the Vollmer General Lexicon of Fine Artists . The fears of existence in the post-war period and his non-stop artistic work led to a cardiovascular breakdown in 1960, which forced him to stay at a spa in Bad Bergzabern south of Neustadt for several months. To gain strength, he traveled to Rome for several weeks in 1961 and was a guest at the Villa Massimo , where a series of lithographs was created. In 1961, the Wolfgang Gurlitt Gallery in Munich presented a representative synopsis of Martin Ritter's paintings and graphics from the post-war period. That year his works were exhibited in other locations in Germany as well as in Marseille, France.

Age

Always looking for something new, the painter moved with his family near Munich in 1963. Despite numerous other exhibitions, it did not receive the same attention in the following years as in Dresden or Neustadt. A biographical retrospective of the works up to 1980 was published in the book Wandlungen . Both the Palatinate and Munich press celebrated him on big birthdays. Martin Ritter suffered several relapses of his illness and had to undergo severe heart surgery in 1975. But this did not prevent him from working continuously; his painterly and graphic work grew continuously. Even in the hospital bed he restlessly filled sketchbooks with colored ink, fiber and ballpoint pen drawings. This driven work did not end until his death in 2001.

Artistic creation

Even as a child, Martin Ritter was shaped by impressions in the Art Nouveau cabinets of his biological father's photo and art studio in Warth, in the course of his youth by the aesthetic environment in the city of Dresden and later by regular stays on the Ligurian coast, on Ischia or by traveling to Rome and Tunisia. Many strokes of fate are reflected in his works, such as the destruction of Dresden, his collapse in health and the death of his wife Helene.

Thematically, the focus of his representations changed, but it was never exclusively fixed: initially landscapes, then flower still lifes and dancers, after the war large heads, proud women or bucolic motifs, later mythological, archetypal or sacred representations. They deal with existential human situations like friendship and love or loss and death, they extol beauty or accuse destruction. In addition, he sketched the weaknesses of his fellow human beings in biting caricatures.

Martin Ritter is characterized by the variety of his representations. He mastered almost all techniques, experimented with them and looked for unusual ways of expression in oversized to smallest formats. All works have a firmly set line. The post-impressionist school, which determined painting culture in Dresden in his youth, still influenced his early works. Expressive Realism developed from expressionist images . As a loner, he did not fit into any style area of ​​the pluralistic art scene of the 20th century. He wanted to remain vivid and he did not want to idealize, but to depict his world as he experienced it for himself. In this respect he rejected non-representational painting. His expressive paintings are of intense coloring and youthful vigor and sensuality well into old age. He was denied a broad public; It was only around his 80th birthday that he received various honors in recognition of his life's work , prompted by the Accademia Italia .

estate

After the painter's death in 2001, his son Ulrich Ritter (1945–2007), an actor and author, took care of the extensive estate of paintings and sketches. In the press, Martin Ritter was repeatedly thought, so u. a. on his death in 2001 with an obituary or on his 100th birthday in 2005 with a retrospective article.

After the son's death, a group of friends decided to preserve and distribute the artistic work of father Martin Ritter and the literary works of son Ulrich Ritter. In October 2008 he founded the non-profit association NOTTURNO - Friends and Patrons of the Gesamtkunstwerk by Martin Ritter and Ulrich Ritter eV After the legal heirs had been established, the entire estate was donated in 2010. The association renovated the house in its old style and turned it into its own museum and a place to actively experience art. One of his tasks is to archive the works of art as well as all documents, diaries and reviews and to make the works accessible to the public. Selected paintings and graphics on specific topics can be seen in annual exhibitions; the house and the works of art can be viewed on request. Regular meetings are open to friends and acquaintances, and public invitations are made to special commemorations.

Honors

  • 1929 Recognition, Academy of Dresden, State University of Fine Arts
  • 1932 Certificate of Honor, Academy of Dresden, State University of Fine Arts
  • 1932       art prize of the state capital Dresden
  • 1979 Medaglia d'Oro, Accademia Italia delle Arti e del Lavoro , Salsomaggiore Terme (November 15, 1979)
  • 1983 Honorary Degree Ordine internazionale dei Volontari per la Pace , Salsomaggiore Terme (May 6, 1983).
  • 1986 Gold Torch of the Arts, World Parliament (USA) (January 22, 1986)
  • 1986 Doctor of Art, honoris causa, Interamerican University of Humanistic Studies , (Academic Year 1987)
  • 1986 Golden Palm of Europe, Accademia Europea , Calvatone (September 24, 1986)
  • 1988 Centauro d'Oro, Accademia Italia delle Arti e del Lavoro , Cremona (September 11, 1988; IV Quadriennale)

Exhibitions (selection)

  • 1914 Chemnitz, Museum of Arts and Crafts
  • 1925 Dresden, Sächsischer Kunstverein, art exhibition of the Dresden Art Cooperative
  • 1932 Dresden, Städtische Kunsthalle, art exhibition of the Association of Creative Artists
  • 1938, 1940 Munich, House of German Art: Great German Art Exhibition
  • 1939, 1940, 1946 Dresden, Sächsischer Kunstverein: autumn exhibition
  • 1953 Munich, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus: Palatinate artist
  • 1953 Neustadt, municipal reading room: Graphic creation from 1945 to 1953 (solo exhibition)
  • 1954 Speyer, Palatinate History Museum, Palatinate Artists' Cooperative: autumn exhibition
  • 1955 Neustadt, Goethesaal / Kulturamt im Saalbau / Center Culturel Francais, three parallel honorary exhibitions
  • 1958 Kaiserslautern, Association of Palatinate Artists (apk)
  • 1959, 1961 Mannheim, Kunstverein in Mannheim Castle
  • 1961 Munich, Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt: retrospective (solo exhibition)
  • 1961 Rome, Italy, Piazza Spagna: Rome - people, walls, cats
  • 1963 Hamburg, Hamburg art exhibition Planten and Blomen,
  • 1964 Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe Culture Days, Association of Returnees
  • 1965 Speyer, Kreissparkasse: Representative show, (solo exhibition)
  • 1965 Munich, art association, artists' guild and Adalbert Stifter association
  • 1966 Munich, Kraus Maffei administration building: paintings and drawings (solo exhibition)
  • 1967 Ludwigshafen, City Museum: Greller - Ritter, Two Palatinate Artists (double exhibition)
  • 1970 Vaterstetten, Kulturverein Zorneding / Baldham (solo exhibition)
  • 1971 Bad Bergzabern, Südpfälzische Kunstgilde: graphics and prints (solo exhibition)
  • 1971 Munich, City Museum: War Painter - Painter in War
  • 1977 Neustadt: Large formats, (solo exhibition)
  • 1979 Bad Bergzabern, Gallery Willibald Länger: Small formats (solo exhibition)
  • 1980 Neustadt, cultural office in the hall building; For his 75th birthday (solo exhibition)
  • 1984 Bad Bergzabern, Kurhotel Am Wonneberg (solo exhibition)
  • 1984 Marseille, France, 57th Salon de peinture d'Allauch, Vieux Bassin (solo exhibition)
  • 1985 Ebersberg, Rathaussaal: Never again war, never again fascism (solo exhibition)
  • 1985 Munich, Gallery of Artists, retrospective (solo exhibition)
  • 1988 Vaterstetten, Town Hall: retrospective (solo exhibition)
  • 1989 Bad Godesberg, Galerie Ossenpohl (solo exhibition)
  • 1989 Neustadt, Herrenhof Mußbach: Art in the Herrenhof (solo exhibition)
  • 1995 Vaterstetten, Town Hall: late harvest (solo exhibition)
  • 1995 Glauchau, lap cabinet (solo exhibition)

posthumously

  • 2005 Vaterstetten, Town Hall: Unmistakable in the course of change (solo exhibition)
  • 2005 Neustadt, Villa Böhm: 100 years of Martin Ritter (solo exhibition)
  • From 2008 onwards, smaller themed exhibitions annually in the local area of ​​Vaterstetten

literature

  • Ulrich Ritter, Martin Ritter: Changes - painting and graphics from 1914-1980 . Ed. Ulrich Ritter, edition DIE LIPPE, Baldham near Munich, 1980 .; available from Notturno eV
  • Rainer Zimmermann, Expressive Realism: Painting of the Lost Generation . (Revised new edition) Hirmer Verlag, Munich, 1994, ISBN 3-7774-6420-1
  • Notturno eV, Martin Ritter estate archive , friends and supporters of the total work of art by Martin Ritter and Ulrich Ritter, registered non-profit association, register no. 201969, registered office: 85591 Vaterstetten, as of 2016

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Zimmermann, Expressive Realism: ... , 1994
  2. ^ Central Institute for Art History, Munich, Great German Art Exhibition 1937-1944 , www.gdk-research.de, accessed November 10, 2016
  3. ^ Hans Reetz, Palatinate artists' cooperative for the first time. Pfälzer Tagblatt, 14 Aug 1954
  4. ↑ Hans Reetz, Three honorary exhibitions for Martin Ritter. The Rhine Palatinate, March 28, 1955
  5. ^ Hans Vollmer, General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. VEB EA Seemann Verlag Leipzig, 1958, p. 75
  6. ^ Wilhelm Fensterer, Unmistakable Signum. Die Rheinpfalz, January 6, 1981, book review
  7. ↑ Kurt Kölsch, Poetic Magic World. Palatine Mercury, 1965
  8. ↑ Oskar Bischoff, The human being is the measure of the work. The Rhine Palatinate, 1965
  9. ↑ Evi Häusler, The natural beauty and the other reality. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 1./2. August 1981
  10. ^ Astrid Schultz, Brush Strokes Against War. Süddeutsche Zeitung, 2./3. March 1985
  11. ↑ Christian Hufnagel, The fight against the absurd is over . Süddeutsche Zeitung, May 15, 2001
  12. ↑ Natascha Niemeyer-Wasserer, The luminosity of the lost . Süddeutsche Zeitung, February 25, 2005
personal data
SURNAME Knight, Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH February 25, 1905
PLACE OF BIRTH Glauchau
DATE OF DEATH May 14, 2001
Place of death Baldham