Max Stern (painter)
Max Stern (born June 15, 1872 in Düsseldorf ; † June 12, 1943 there ) was a German painter, draftsman and graphic artist from the Düsseldorf School , the Hague School , Impressionism and the New Objectivity .
Life
Early years and education
Max Stern was born to Jewish parents, but his father Adolph Stern died before his birth and his mother, Rosalie Stern nee. Rothschild, died in 1883. Together with his three older siblings Leopold, Louise and Ida, he came to live with his mother's sister, Victorine Sternefeld. In Düsseldorf's best business location at Casernenstrasse 4 ( on Alleeplatz ), she ran the “S. Sternefeld u. Co. ”for silk goods, clothing and interior decoration, in which the Rhineland nobility and the upper classes had clothes made. At the age of 16 Max Stern was accepted into the elementary class of the Düsseldorf Academy and then attended courses with Adolf Schill , Peter Janssen and Eduard von Gebhardt , who taught biblical history painting , among others, until 1892 . Stern later moved to the Munich Art Academy to work with the American genre and portrait painter Carl von Marr . He returned to Düsseldorf in 1894, probably not entirely voluntarily, to do his military service as a one-year volunteer . On the last day of his military service, he traveled to Italy by night train and spent several months in Venice to study the art of the lagoon city and, above all, to paint himself.
Düsseldorf impressionist
Like all painters, whose creative period fell into the artistic upheaval at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Max Stern had to conquer his position in the modern art business. He began as a figure painter, quickly freed himself from the influence of his academic teachers and showed himself to be receptive to avant-garde trends. In 1893, Stern was the youngest participant to exhibit a painting in the newly founded Munich Secession , which was followed by participation in exhibitions, including in 1897 at the VII International Art Exhibition in Munich's Glass Palace, in 1906 at the Great Art Exhibition in Berlin and Düsseldorf, etc.
In 1932, Max Stern wrote in retrospect about his artistic beginnings: “... at that time, in the prime of plein airism and realism, I was, 'drunk with youth and enthusiasm', as Zola once wrote, a fanatical follower of these directions, only painting and drawing outside Free time and used the holidays to stay in Knokke s. M. (Belgian seaside resort), where the younger artists from all over the world met. The times were stimulating. "(Düsseldorfer Stadtanzeiger, June 15, 1932)
Initially enthusiastic about the Hague School and naturalism, after 1900 he adopted the painting style of the French Impressionists . The powerful brushstroke and the sensualistic handling of color, detached from the local color, remained decisive from then on. Throughout his life he dealt with the representation of people in rural or urban environments. Strollers on the promenade, sociable chats in the garden bar or at a picnic interested him just as much as the hardships of the herring fishermen on the North Sea and general everyday motifs of the modest life beyond allegory and pathos . A recurring subject is the working person: cowherd women, laundresses, Provencal farmers in the field, fruit pickers, tar workers in Düsseldorf or priests celebrating a procession. For the financially strong middle class from the Rhineland, Stern painted social events in public places, group pictures and individual portraits, which are reminiscent of the paintings of Renoir and Édouard Manet in terms of style and color . The settings are the Königsallee in Düsseldorf and the Hofgarten with its legendary coffee garden on the Ananasberg, which was destroyed in 1943. Representations of squares, lively street cafes, flower beds and avenues, which can be found in all major cities, made Stern grow beyond Düsseldorf. His subjects corresponded to the taste of the time and reflect the self-image of the upper class, who are dressed in the latest fashion on Sunday strolls, picnics in the open air, visiting a café or strolling on the splendid boulevards. This group of works is characterized by the use of strong primary colors . Because of his closeness to French art, the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim from Münster, who was famous for his flair for avant-garde trends, had been interested in Max Stern since 1910 . During the First World War, Stern was a non-commissioned officer in the air defense in France and Belgium for four years, but was still able to present the major art exhibitions in Berlin and Düsseldorf with Impressionist paintings.
Turning to the New Objectivity
After the colorful Impressionism, Max Stern, who was over 50 in the late 1920s, turned towards the New Objectivity . The color palette is now dominated by gray-green shades. Socially critical images permeate Max Stern's entire oeuvre. His interest in the concerns of the disadvantaged classes is not an attitude ; it is the result of an attentive, compassionate observer.
Professional ban during the time of National Socialism and persecution
Max Stern was able to take part in exhibitions in Düsseldorf and Berlin until 1936, despite an official ban in 1933 and his exclusion from the Düsseldorf artists' association Malkasten . The Kunstverein der Rheinlande called a show with works that artists had given each other as “artists among themselves” . In 1935 the Jüdische Kulturbund Düsseldorf showed works by Jewish artists and in the following spring Max Stern's paintings “Dock Workers” and “Landscape in Provence” were on view in Berlin in the Reich Exhibition of Jewish Artists. The establishment of the " Reich Chamber of Culture of the Fine Arts" meant that unpopular and non-Aryan artists were left out, because only those who were considered "reliable" and compliant in the sense of the new cultural ideology were accepted as members and were able to own more appropriately Get painting materials.
Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels organized the confiscation of so-called “degenerate art” in 1937 and had some of the works of art shown in a traveling exhibition of the same name . In the Nazi regime, all works of art and cultural currents that were not in harmony with the National Socialists' understanding of art and the ideal of beauty were considered " degenerate art ". The works of Max Stern also fell under the verdict . On August 26, 1937, a charcoal drawing entitled "Resting Pilgrims" was removed from the Düsseldorf City Art Collection. But Max Stern was not only exposed to public ostracism as an artist, his marriage to Alice Helene Burnier (1877–1943) was also put to a severe test. As early as September 1935, so-called “ mixed marriages ” were considered “racial disgrace” under the Nuremberg Laws . Many spouses were advised to divorce under threat of punishment, and some spouses were even tried before the Düsseldorf regional court. Although the high social prestige of the Burnier and Sterns, as well as the painter's four-year participation in the First World War, could have delayed his persecution, the artist could hardly feel safe after the night of the Reichspogrom . The Stern couple lived with their very old mother-in-law in very poor conditions in recent years. On November 9, 1938, the SA stormed their house at Gartenstrasse 58 in Pempelfort and destroyed pictures and furnishings. Painting no longer offered a livelihood, as even the possession of "Jewish pictures" was considered a crime. The Stern siblings spent the last years of their lives in constant fear of being discovered and deported. They found protection in the Rather Hospital, where their brother Leopold worked as a doctor until he lost his license to practice medicine . Sisters of mercy hid the two brothers when the Gestapo again harassed Jewish citizens and drove them through the streets like cattle. The deportations were both narrowly escaped.
Max Stern died in the " Pentecost attack " in Düsseldorf in 1943 in a cellar. As a Jew, he was forbidden to take refuge in an air raid shelter. His wife Alice, who had stood by her husband despite massive threats, was found dead on December 14, 1943 in Düsseldorf-Gerresheim. She had taken her own life with a sleeping pill out of desperation.
In 2009 a commemorative mark for Max Stern was set with a stumbling block at Vagedesstraße 19 in Düsseldorf-Pempelfort . Most of his artistic legacy is in private hands in the Rhineland, Israel and the USA. In the international art and auction trade his paintings have been traded at good prices for years. In the Museum Kunst Palast , Dusseldorf City Museum and paintbox some of his paintings, drawings and caricatures are kept in the magazines.
Selection of works
- At the Piazza San Marco , 1894
- Landing of the ships
- Rider and fisher woman
- Before the procession , 1897
- Dutch folk festival , 1898
- Coffee garden on the Ananasberg in the Hofgarten
- In the street
- Washerwomen on the Bleiche , around 1919
- Plum harvest , 1920
- The waitress
- Sister of the Holy Cross , 1933
- Haymaking
- Labor Day rally in Berlin , 1937
- The artist's dream , brush drawing, Museum Kunstpalast , Düsseldorf
literature
- Star, max . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 32 : Stephens – Theodotos . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1938, p. 8 .
- Max Stern on the 50th anniversary of his death: Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf, 2.6. – 22.8.1993, exh . u. Cat .: Werner Alberg. Düsseldorf 1993.
- Hans Paffrath (Ed.): Lexicon of the Düsseldorf School of Painting 1819–1918. Volume 3: Nabert-Zwecker. Published by the Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf in the Ehrenhof and by the Paffrath Gallery. Bruckmann, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-7654-3011-0 .
- Silke Köhn: Max Stern 1872–1943. In: Collectors Journal. July 2007, pp. 54-61.
- Silke Köhn: Max Stern 1872-1943- From Naturalism to Impressionism. Pictures from a private collection. Forum Jacob Pins, Höxter 2012.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Sternefeld S., Manufactory u. Fashion handler, purveyor to the court, company: S. Sternefeld u. Co., Casernenstrasse 4. In: Address book of the Lord Mayor's Office in Düsseldorf. 1885, p. 190 ( uni-duesseldorf.de ).
- ↑ “1873, January 9th: The partner of the company, S. Sternefeld u. Comp. ', Adolph Stern, has died and instead, his widow Rosa, b. Rothschild, as a partner in the company she is authorized to sign. Wife Samuel Sternefeld, Victorine, b. Rothschild, has the power of attorney for the company 'S. Sternefeld and Comp. ' received. ”In: Düsseldorfer Volksblatt. (No. 12) of January 14, 1873 ( uni-duesseldorf.de ).
- ^ Artists of the Düsseldorf School of Painting (selection, status: November 2016): Stern, Max, Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, 1888–1891 / 92 with A. Schill, P. Janssen, E. v. Gebhardt ( smkp.de , PDF, accessed April 1, 2017).
- ^ Stern, Max, painter, Gartenstrasse 58, E = owner. In: Address book for Düsseldorf city and surroundings. 1932, p. 560 ( uni-duesseldorf.de ).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Star, max |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German painter, draftsman and graphic artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 15, 1872 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dusseldorf |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 12, 1943 |
| Place of death | Dusseldorf |