Max Schmalzl
Max Schmalzl (born July 7, 1850 in Falkenstein , † January 7, 1930 in Gars am Inn ) was a Bavarian Redemptorist , church painter and illustrator in the style of the Nazarenes and the Beuron School .
life and work
Schmalzl began an apprenticeship in the building trade in Regensburg with Johann Dorner in 1865, from 1865 to 1867 he did an apprenticeship as a decorative painter in Falkenstein with his step-uncle Wolfgang Schmalzl. From 1867 or 1868 to 1870 he worked at the Meyerschen Hofkunstanstalt in Munich. 1870/71 attended the arts and crafts school in Munich , where he was a student of Theodor Spieß (1846–1920). In the district gazette for Middle Franconia Schmalzl was described as a decorative painter and listed as one of the institution's best students, so that he received a grant of 200 guilders from the "Maximilians II. Scholarship Foundation for Arts and Crafts Training" .
His older brother Peter Schmalzl (1835–1874) was a Redemptorist priest and also painted. Max Schmalzl broke off his studies in 1871 and also entered the Redemptorist Order in Gars Monastery in 1871 and made his perpetual vows in 1878, but remained a lay brother without ordination. For this he painted passionately and put all his art in the service of religion. He became a sought-after church painter and his designs were ordered worldwide. Mainly it was about sculptures and mosaics in the Nazarene style, which, however, often also show clear influences of the Beuron school . Today there are works of his not only in his homeland, but also in Brazil, the USA and Italy. His art has been ostracized since the second half of the 20th century, but is now again considered to be very valuable and demanding.
Monika Schwarzenberger-Wurster wrote about him:
“From his entry into the Gars am Inn monastery in 1871 until the inter-war period, the versatile artist created his extensive, exclusively religiously motivated work as a painter, illustrator, draftsman, architect and designer of church equipment. Within the divergent conceptions of Christian painting in the 19th century, Schmalzl represented the traditional-conventional direction. He did this with a rigor that ultimately made his work highly individual. His dogma-conforming conception of art, his pious way of life and his artistic modesty make Max Schmalzl appear as the incarnation of an artist ideal demanded by Christian art theory. In stark contrast to his work, which was viewed and respected by the entire Catholic world at the time, Max Schmalzl led the withdrawn life of a lay brother in the Gars am Inn monastery and devoted himself and his artistic abilities entirely to the service of the church. Schmalzl was so consistent in his religious outlook on life that, in keeping with the medieval topos of modesty, he often renounced the signature of his works. Max Schmalzl crystallized the reconstruction of his living conditions as the incarnation of the ideal of the Christian artist. An ideal that was vehemently demanded by Christian art theory in the late 19th century. In Schmalzl the idea of the humble, pious and hardworking painter monk, which the Nazarenes and the Beuronians tried to realize, reached its final climax. "
The presence of his art creations , which continues to this day, is the result of almost 50 years of collaboration with the Regensburg publishing house Friedrich Pustet . Schmalzl supplied the publisher with around 150 illustrations for liturgical works, edification books and religious mass printed products that went all over the Catholic world and made his pictures known everywhere. In addition to sculptures, Max Schmalzl also designed altars, figures, liturgical implements and other religious objects.
Max Schmalzl is also referred to as the “ last Nazarene ” because he always remained true to this then antiquated style of art until his death in Gars am Inn monastery in 1930. In the times of his greatest fame he was called the "Bavarian Fra Angelico da Fiesole".
His nephew Rudolf Schmalzl (1890–1932) was also a well-known church painter.
Well-known individual works
Schmalzl's way of the cross adorns the basilica of Aparecida (São Paulo) , the most famous place of pilgrimage in Brazil. In Rome he created frescoes for the church of Sant'Alfonso all'Esquilino and the Bavarian chapel of the church of San Gioacchino ai Prati di Castello . For the Cathedral of Covington, Kentucky , the German-born Bishop Ferdinand Brossart had a monumental mosaic Stations of the Cross made to designs by Max Schmalzl. He painted a copy of the miraculous image of Our Lady of Perpetual Help on the ceiling of the monastery chapel of the Maria Hilf pilgrimage church (Vilsbiburg) .
literature
- Max Josef Heimbucher: The orders and congregations of the Catholic Church. Volume 3, Schöningh, Paderborn 1908, p. 327 ( Textarchiv - Internet Archive Mention of Max Schmalzl as an “outstanding religious painter”).
- Leonhard Eckl: Brother Max. Life picture of the artist Fr. Max Schmalzl. Pustet, Regensburg 1930.
- Schmalzl, Max . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 30 : Scheffel – Siemerding . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1936, p. 127 .
- Otto Weiß : Art and Pastoral Care. The forgotten painter brother Max Schmalzl (1850–1930) . In: SHCSR 40, 1992, pp. 71–81 (PDF santalfonsoedintorni.it , revised version of an article in Jahrbuch für Christliche Kunst 12, 1982, pp. 101–109).
- Wolfgang Rappel: Schmalzl, Max. In: Karl Bosl (Hrsg.): Bosls Bavarian biography. Pustet, Regensburg 1983, ISBN 3-7917-0792-2 , p. 680 ( digitized version ).
- Monika Schwarzenberger-Wurster: Brother Max Schmalzl (1850-1930). Catholic Image Propaganda in Late 19th Century Christian Art . Dissertation University of Regensburg 2010 ( uni-regensburg.de ).
- Susanna Partsch : Schmalzl, Max . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 102, de Gruyter, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-11-023268-4 , p. 36.
Web links
- Max Schmalzl at the Bavarian State Library
- Mosaic by Max Schmalzl above the altar of the chapel in the Clyde Missouri Benedictine Convent
- Brother Max Schmalzl, a forgotten artist museum-vilsbiburg.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ District Official Journal for Middle Franconia. September 30, 1871.
- ↑ The Schmalzl scholarship is named in the article with the entry date "09.01.2008"
- ↑ Otto Weiss: Die Redemptoristen in Bayern, 1790-1909: a contribution to the history of the ultramontanism . tape 2 . Foto-Druck-Frank, Munich 1977, p. 1280 ( books.google.de - limited view of Max Schmalzl's brother Peter).
- ↑ Page about a reliquary cross designed by Max Schmalzl. ( Memento from June 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Karl Hausberger, Benno Hubensteiner: Bavarian Church History . Süddeutscher Verlag, {Munich 1985, ISBN 3-7991-6250-X , p. 319 ( books.google.de - restricted view of Schmalzl, as "Bavarian Fra Angelico").
- ↑ Edda Preißl: "Up, up, O man, get ready". Dance of death representations in the area borders of today's Upper Palatinate. P. 128 (PDF oberpfaelzerkulturbund.de ).
- ^ Website on San Gioacchino in Rome
- ^ Page on the history of Covington Cathedral (with Max Schmalzl mentioned as the creator of the Way of the Cross).
- ↑ Commemorative page on Bishop Ferdinand Brossart of Covuington Kentucky brossart.org (with excerpt from a Christ mosaic by Max Schmalzl and with his mention in the text).
- ↑ Pilgrimage Church Maria Hilf Vilsbiburg - Chapel (With illustration of Max Schmalzl's picture of the Virgin Mary).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Schmalzl, Max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German church painter, friar, Redemptorist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 7, 1850 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Falkenstein (Upper Palatinate) |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 7, 1930 |
| Place of death | Gars on the Inn |