Rudolf Wilke

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rudolf Wilke
Rudolf Wilke: Wunderkind , 1896

Rudolf Wilke (born October 27, 1873 in Braunschweig ; † November 4, 1908 there ) was a German draftsman and caricaturist.

Life

Rudolf Wilke grew up as the oldest child of the carpenter Johannes Wilke in Braunschweig. Two of his younger brothers also embarked on an artistic career: Hermann Wilke (1876–1957) was a successful painter, caricaturist and commercial artist, and Erich Wilke (1879–1936) was also a caricaturist.

Rudolf Wilke did a craft apprenticeship and then attended the building trade school in Holzminden. However, his artistic inclination led him to embark on a new career path. He studied with the landscape and animal painter Adolf Nickol at the Braunschweiger Polytechnikum, then at a private drawing school in Munich and finally at the Académie Julien in Paris.

Rudolf Wilke: Prayer before the battle , 1900 (published in Simplicissimus)
Rudolf Wilke, pen drawing in Simplicissimus from December 17, 1906. Inscribed: Vacation work. "What have you been doing all the vacation?" - "I taught my parrot to burp."

Wilke went to Munich and teamed up with his friend Bruno Paul (1874–1968) in a studio. In 1896 Wilke took part in a competition organized by the magazine Die Jugend . He was immediately engaged as a permanent employee. In 1899 the publisher Albert Langen brought him to Simplicissimus . Here he belonged to the tribe of the most important draftsmen until his death. He was married to the painter Amalie Wilke since 1905 , with whom he had the children Charlotte (1906–1982) and Ulfert (1907–1987).

plant

For Wilke, as for his colleague Olaf Gulbransson , the line was the most important means of expression. With a few, but very precise strokes, he succeeded in unmistakably extracting the essentials and emphasizing what is typical of a figure. His “victims” came from all walks of life: aristocrats, corps students , soldiers, tramps, clergy.

However, his sharp eyes and sharp pencil never led to malicious distortion. In his caricatures, social criticism is combined with relaxed cheerfulness and a deep understanding of human weaknesses.

Wilke worked with pencil, ink and opaque colors, often in a sophisticated mixed technique.

Rudolf Wilke Prize

From 1954 to 1993 the city of Braunschweig awarded the "Rudolf Wilke Prize". The award was endowed with 1,500 DM for a trip abroad. The prize was awarded to Karl-Heinz Meyer for the first time on February 11, 1954 .

Prize winners (list incomplete) in chronological order:

literature

Web links

Commons : Rudolf Wilke  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter Lufft: Wikle, Amalie. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Günter Scheel (ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 19th and 20th centuries . Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5838-8 , p. 656-657 .
  2. ↑ a b City Chronicle of Braunschweig for 1954
  3. ↑ Honorary graves of the city of Braunschweig (PDF; 40 kB)
personal data
SURNAME Wilke, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German draftsman and caricaturist
DATE OF BIRTH October 27, 1873
PLACE OF BIRTH Braunschweig
DATE OF DEATH November 4, 1908
Place of death Braunschweig