Otto Beyer (painter)

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In the midday heat, 1919

Otto Beyer (born October 20, 1885 in Katowice ; † June 17, 1962 in Berlin ) was a German painter and graphic artist and, as a representative of German Expressionism, was close to the artist group " Brücke ". His subjects are predominantly landscapes, Berlin suburbs, also nudes and still lifes. Beyer found a sponsor in Max Liebermann , and his work was strongly influenced by his acquaintance with Max Pechstein and Lovis Corinth . He is considered a painter of the “ lost generation ”, and his works were classified as “ degenerate art ” by the National Socialist regime .

Artistic development

He studied at the Art Academy in Wroclaw around 1900, then at the Art Academy in Königsberg (today: Kaliningrad ) with Olof Jernberg , who moved from Düsseldorf to Königsberg in 1901 due to his appointment at the Academy. Jernberg supported Beyer by enabling him to study in Belgium from 1910 to 1914. Study trips took him to Munich, Paris, Holland, southern France and Italy.

In 1909 Beyer had his first exhibition successes at the Berlin Secession . In 1910 he took part in exhibitions at the Leipzig Secession and moved to Berlin, where he became a member of the Free Secession . In 1914 he became acquainted with Corinth and Pechstein and stayed longer on the Baltic Sea as a member of the Nidden artists' colony . Around 1920/1922 he was represented as an artist in "The graphic year Fritz Gurlitt ". From 1933 to 1945 he was banned from painting and exhibiting by the Nazis. After the war there are again exhibitions in Berlin (e.g. 1945 and 1959).

A memorial for Otto Beyer is located in Berlin on the II. Reinickendorf Municipal Cemetery (grave location: Dept. 3, No. 511).

Literature and Sources

  • Fritz Gurlitt (Ed.): The graphic year Fritz Gurlitt. 2nd edition, Berlin 1922, p. 30 f.
  • Otto Beyer: Pictures and Studies. Exhibition leaflet on the occasion of the 65th birthday of the Reinickendorf district of Gross-Berlin, Office for Art, 1950.
  • Rainer Zimmermann : The Art of the Lost Generation. Munich 1994.
  • Ostracized - forgotten - rediscovered. Art of expressive representationalism from the Gerhard Schneider Collection; [on the occasion of the exhibition Ostracized, Forgotten, Rediscovered. Art of expressive representationalism from the Gerhard Schneider Collection, Kunstverein Südsauerland Olpe (4.7. – 8.8.1999 / 23.7. – 20.8.2000); Museum Baden, Solingen-Gräfrath (November 21, 1999– March 21, 2000)], ed. By Rolf Jessewitsch and Gerhard Schneider. Wienand, Cologne 1999. ISBN 3-87909-665-1 , p. 427.
  • Otto Beyer . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. tape 5 : V-Z. Supplements: A-G . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1961.
  • Expressive representational fate of figurative painting and graphics in the 20th century: Works from the Gerhard Schneider Collection. Kettler, Bönen / Westphalia 2001. ISBN 393501919X .
  • Exhibition Otto Beyer, oil paintings, watercolors, prints (exhibition catalog, text by R. Pefferkorn), Berlin 1988.
  • Otto Beyer (painter) . In: General Artist Lexicon . The visual artists of all times and peoples (AKL). Volume 10, Saur, Munich a. a. 1994, ISBN 3-598-22750-7 , p. 341 f.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Beyer, Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and graphic artist
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Katowice
DATE OF DEATH June 17, 1962
Place of death Berlin