Theo Hölscher

Theodor Franz Matthias Viktor Hölscher (born November 25, 1895 in Münster ; † September 8, 1966 there ) was a German painter and graphic artist .

Live and act

Theodor “Theo” Hölscher was born on November 25, 1895 in Münster. Until 1914 he attended elementary school there and then high school . After completing school, he prepared for a visit to the art academy with a university drawing teacher . From September 1914 Hoelscher worked as a volunteer soldier in the First World War , where he until November 11, 1918 in reserve by the 28 December 1914 Regiment 130 as a sergeant , then lieutenant and battalion - aide served. In February 1919 he was discharged from military service with the rank of officer . During his deployment to the front, he was able to make drawings in quiet phases, which encouraged him to pursue his artistic ambitions after the war .

From 1920 to 1922 Hölscher studied at the State Art Academy in Kassel with training for artistic teaching at secondary schools under his teacher Kay H. Nebel . It was there that Hölscher, Hans Kraft from Paderborn and Josef Wedewer from Münster became friends . In 1923 Hölscher began teaching as an art teacher at the secondary school in Hamm / Westphalia , where he gave gymnastics and sports lessons in the second subject . In 1924 he went on a trip to the Black Forest . The painter and art professor Hermann Sandkuhl arranged for Hölscher to participate in the jury-free art exhibition in Berlin as well as other exhibition opportunities in Stockholm and Buenos Aires . Together with his fellow painter Josef Wedewer and the Gustav Lübcke Museum acting art historian Heinrich Ossenberg he founded the "Young Westfalen" group in Hamm 1925th The first “independent” paintings in the New Objectivity style formed a first high point in the work of the now 30-year-old painter Theo Hölscher. Now he has created a wealth of images that show motifs from Hamm and the surrounding area; and above all these works bear the unmistakable signature of the artist and made him known far beyond the city. For Hölscher, who would also have liked to become an architect , the structural structures of urban buildings and functional buildings such as bridges, derricks and sewer systems were of outstanding importance, and so he repeatedly used the cityscape of Hamm as well as its industry and technology in his oil and tempera paintings. That is why he is considered a portraitist of the industrial city of Hamm in the interwar years . In 1926 he made trips to Paris and Tyrol . The art critic and writer Paul Westheim and the art dealer Alfred Flechtheim campaigned for Hölscher in Berlin and Düsseldorf in 1926. His first trip to Holland took place in 1927, as did his entry into the group “ Freie Künstlergemeinschaft Schanze ” in Münster, which was also joined by Hans Kraft, who had just moved to Münster and became an internationally successful poster artist.

On September 5, 1928, he married Annemarie Hölscher, née Lindemann, who in 1929 made further study trips to the Netherlands and a trip to Paris with his wife and their friends, the Wedewers. In December 1930, Hölscher applied for the Grand State Prize for Painters and Sculptors from the Prussian Academy of the Arts , Berlin. At this point in time, the Berlin National Gallery already owned paintings by him. Until 1934 he made further trips to Holland, Paris, Tyrol, the Black Forest and the Baltic Sea .

After the outbreak of World War II in 1939, Hölscher was called up as a reserve officer . He only did military service until 1944 because he had to retire from the Wehrmacht due to health problems . He then moved to Enniger, the Sommersell family , as the city of Hamm was exposed to Allied bombing. After the war ended in 1945 , Hölscher was dismissed from school and moved to Münster. From now on he resumed his artistic work and participated - also from an organizational point of view - in the restarted exhibition work. In 1947 he became involved as a co-founder and member of the group " West German Artists Association " in Hagen . From 1950 he turned to non-representational painting . In 1962 he joined the “ Dortmund Group ”, to which he belonged until his death. Theo Hölscher died on September 8, 1966 in Münster.

meaning

The artist Theo Hölscher is nationally important. Initially an impressionist , in the twenties he switched to a painting style related to the New Objectivity, which shows a world interspersed with technology. From 1950 he turned to abstract painting, influenced by Vincent van Gogh. His works are represented in numerous museums. In 1991 the Gustav Lübcke Museum in Hamm was able to take over the artist's estate from the widow Annemarie Hölscher. The museum currently holds almost 600 of his works, including sketches.

Exhibitions

• 1927: Special exhibition Theo Hölscher and Josef Wedewer in the Kunsthallen Hansa Haus, Essen
• 1978: 20th century graphics. Theo Hölscher collection. Gustav Lübcke Museum, Hamm
• 1980: Theo Hölscher - paintings, drawings, graphics. Gustav Lübcke Museum, Hamm
• 1985: Theo Hölscher. Studio exhibition in the Gustav-Lübcke-Museum, Hamm
• 2016: Münster. Cabinet 33 in the Münster City Museum
• 2018: Hamm - With Hölscher's eyes and with Jürgen Post's photo lens. Gustav Lübcke Museum, Hamm

student

• Paul Commer
• Josef Hegemann

literature

• Hans Vollmer : General Lexicon of Fine Artists of the XX. Century. Volume II (E – J), Seemann Verlag, Leipzig 1958, p. 458.
• B. Richter: Theo Hölscher: paintings, drawings, graphics , Hamm 1980.
• Paul Joseph Cremers : The painter Theo Hölscher In: German art and decoration. Illustrated monthly books for modern painting, sculpture, architecture, home art and artistic work by women , Volume 70, (April to September) 1932, p. 77.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i} Information on Theo Hölscher. In: lot-tissimo.com. Auction Technology Group Germany GmbH, accessed on August 17, 2018 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Jürgen Post: Hamm - with Hölscher's eyes and with the photo lens. Studio exhibition 02/25/2018 - 09/02/2018. In: hamm.de. March 29, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018 . 
3. ↑ ^{a b} Hans Kraft: A great poster artist. In: wn.de. Aschendorff Medien GmbH & Co. KG, September 2, 2009, accessed on August 17, 2018 . 
4. ^ Members of the Dortmund group since 1956. In: dortmundergruppe.jimdo.com. Artists' Association Dortmunder Gruppe eV, accessed on August 17, 2018 .