Richard Eggers
Richard Eggers (born September 24, 1905 in Wilster ; † June 15, 1995 ) was a German painter and one of the most important exponents of post-impressionism in northern Germany. In almost 70 years of artistic activity, he created more than 6000 paintings . In 1975 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on ribbon for his life's work.
Life
Before Richard Eggers devoted himself exclusively to art, he reluctantly completed an apprenticeship as a piano maker in his father's company from 1920 to 1923. He then enjoyed further training at the G. Stapel pianoforte factory in Hamburg. During this time he secretly attended evening courses on painting at the Hamburg School of Applied Arts. From 1927 to 1930 he studied at the private painting school of GJ Buchner in Munich and the private art school of L. Paczki-Mahrholz in Leipzig. Study trips then took him to Morcote on Lake Lugano in Switzerland. After returning home and confronted with the death of his father, Eggers decided not to take over the piano manufacturing company and began his career as a freelance painter in Husum. Since, like Vincent van Gogh, he painted in the open air and Schleswig-Holstein's rough gusts of wind destroyed so many works, he moved to Jork in 1934 in the more climatically protected Alte Land. From there he went on further study trips to southern Germany and became a member of the Ulm Artists' Guild. In the middle of the development phase, his work was interrupted from 1939 to 1945 by military service. Now he found himself as a "war painter" in Romania, Russia and southern France before he was taken prisoner near Marseille.
In 1949 he was able to pursue his passion again, but basically had to start over. Eggers met "his Polly" and found in her a woman who was at his side in all situations. Since there is less, Eggers undertook further study trips to the Netherlands in 1956, including to Otterlo (province of Gelderland) and Amsterdam, indulging in the works of Rembrandt, van Gogh and Cézanne. Inspired and full of energy, he returned with new ideas and a reduced palette. His enthusiasm rubbed off. Without exception, successful exhibitions followed. After another study trip to Switzerland and Northern Italy, an exhibition was planned in Zurich, then in Küsnacht and Geneva. Numerous private and public orders, especially for oversized sgraffiti on public buildings, were carried out.
1965 was initially another year of great success, then a year of personal catastrophe: While working on a large sgraffito on the front wall of the Altländer Festhalle in Jork, Eggers fell from a seven-meter-high scaffolding, the railing of which the masons thoughtlessly combined Had postponed work breaks by a few meters. Several thoracic and dorsal vertebrae were broken, resulting in paraplegia. Eggers resigned himself to his fate; he was dependent on a wheelchair.
It is ultimately thanks to his wife Polly that he did not lose heart. She secretly learned to drive, took the driving test and surprised Eggers by saying that she would drive him to all the places he would choose to paint. When he returned home in 1967 after a two-year stay in hospital, he painted even more obsessively on his subjects, and annually invited new exhibitions to his studio. In the meantime, his fan base had grown to such an extent that around 300 art lovers were soon gathering in a confined space. Although Altländer Sparkasse Jork offered several times to move the exhibitions to its business premises due to the lack of space, Richard Eggers thought about 10 years before accepting the offer. This connection should last for more than 20 years.
In 1975, on the occasion of Richard Eggers' 70th birthday, he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon by Loist Grolle, former Lower Saxony Minister for Culture and Science. Eggers accepted this honor with thanks, but immediately presented the honorable badge to his wife Polly, without whom he could not have lived his art. Eggers died on June 14, 1995.
plant
Richard Egger's work mainly comprises landscapes, flower pictures, figurative objects, portraits and works in public spaces (frescoes, sgraffiti). Stylistically, it can be assigned to Neo-Impressionism or Post-Impressionism. Among his best-known models was the comedian Addi Münster . Eggers remained loyal to the Munich School for the first few years after his studies until, impressed by the works of Van Gogh, Monet and Cezanne, he fundamentally changed his painting style. Among other things, he said goodbye to the traditional earth colors. He remained a plainerist throughout his life. That means that he looked for his motifs mainly in the north German landscape and painted his pictures in the open air.
His concern was more about capturing atmospheric impressions. Eggers quote: “I am a naturalistic painter who is deeply rooted in impressionism. Just as every string of the instrument has to be tuned to the other, I also strive for this harmony for the composition of my pictures. I choose my motifs from the diversity and richness of nature in the Low German region, to which I feel deeply connected despite my travels through many European countries. It is less the outlines themselves than the shadows they cast. The illusions of the object bathed in flickering light. ”Richard Eggers is the father of the sculptor Carsten Eggers .
Linocuts
In addition to diverse landscape motifs in oil and pastel as well as graphics, linocuts on Japanese paper are also part of Richard Eggers' main work. All motifs were created in an elaborate procedure in the studio based on our own studies. Both the linocut and the subsequent print on tissue paper were made using tried and tested technology. A selection of the works was immortalized parallel to the annual exhibitions in the form of wall tiles, which became collectibles.
Individual evidence
- ^ Excerpts from Richard Eggers' original diaries .
- ↑ Short biography of Prof. Dr. Kaufmann, former director of the Altona Museum .
- ↑ The New Rump - Lexicon of visual artists in Hamburg, Altona and the surrounding area . Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 2005, p. 103 .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Eggers, Richard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German landscape painter and linoleum cutter |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 24, 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wilster |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 15, 1995 |