Rudolf Köselitz

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Rudolf Köselitz (born October 23, 1861 in Annaberg , † January 21, 1948 in Munich ) was a German painter and illustrator .

Life

Rudolf Köselitz was born in 1861 as the son of Annaberg Deputy Mayor Gustav Hermann Köselitz . His older brother Heinrich Köselitz became known as "Peter Gast" as a friend and colleague of the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche . Both sons received home instruction in the fine arts early on. Heinrich turned to studying music , while Rudolf was drawn to painting.

Rudolf's talent was discovered by a drawing teacher at the secondary school . The latter suggested to his father to let the fifteen-year-old study at the Leipzig Art Academy , which the latter also allowed. In 1881 Köselitz continued his studies at the Art Academy in Munich . His first study trip with this academy took him to Venice that same year .

There he was inspired by the Italian Renaissance and met here with his brother Heinrich, who was just getting musical inspiration for his opera The Lion of Venice . He returned to Germany and lived in Dresden until 1900 . Under the expert artistic guidance of his teachers and friends Otto Seitz , Gyula Benczúr , Carl Theodor von Piloty and Alexander Strähuber , an extensive work of illustrations was created. Including u. a. the 250 drawings for Heinrich Schaumberger's Upper Franconian Village Stories , which reflect the two summer vacation days he spent in Upper Franconia . In 1901 the renowned Zwißler art publisher in Wolfenbüttel published 40 collotype reproductions based on watercolors by Rudolf Köselitz. Köselitz is particularly well known for his works, which deal with the Ore Mountains and its people, for example: B. the Frohnau hammer and its last hammer lords Martin, or the city views of Annaberg. For the Heiligohmdlied (Christmas Eve song , written in Annaberg in 1799) by Johanne Amalie von Elterlein , around 1910 he created the illustrations of song postcards .

Further works were created in his adopted home Munich, where he joined the Association of Munich Watercolor Artists , and from 1910 in his studio in Altfreimann near Munich. Some genre pictures with idyllic content also fall into this creative period, some of which, as commissioned works, reflect the taste of the time. His main works, which art historians consider to be the last offshoots of Munich Romanticism, include: a. Naiad dance , love ancestors , bathing children , summer , the brittle and the witch dance . But his watercolors such as the grain harvest , village parzen or chess players have also received great attention in numerous exhibitions.

From the marriage with Marie, b. Bruhm, had two children: Doris and Johanna / Hanna (* July 8, 1890, † May 24, 1927, died in a boat accident on the Inn).

Work and meaning

In 1901, the painting hung inside of a hammer mill ( Frohnauer Hammer , 1889) of Rudolf Köselitz in the Berlin National Gallery directly next to the famous Eisenwalzwerk of Adolph von Menzel . Back then, art criticism placed the work of both artists in an equally appreciative relationship in terms of content and craftsmanship. His works are widely scattered in galleries and museums, mainly in German-speaking countries. The most extensive retrospective to date (174 exhibits) was opened on July 21, 2012 in the Erzhammer cultural center in Annaberg-Buchholz on the occasion of the artist's 150th birthday.

Because of his closeness to the people, critics said he had a certain naivety in his artistic expression.

Köselitz was involved in helping the watercolor technique to break through in Germany.

literature

  • Peter Rochhaus : Shortly before oblivion - On the life and work of the painter and illustrator Rudolf Köselitz. (Forays through the history of the Upper Ore Mountains, issue 24) Annaberg-Buchholz, 1998. ( PDF )
  • Gotthard B. Schicker : Munich romantics - painter of the Erzgebirge homeland. In: Dicknischl - Erzgebirge people from then and now. Druck- und Verlagsgesellschaft Marienberg mbH, 2008, ISBN 978-3-931770-76-1
  • Gotthard B. Schicker: Köselitz: World Citizens from Annaberg - A Family and City Biography, ERZDruck, Marienberg 2017, ISBN 978-3-946568-23-0

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Köselitz, Rudolf
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1861
PLACE OF BIRTH Annaberg
DATE OF DEATH January 21, 1948
Place of death Munich