Walther Kniebe
Walther Kniebe (born June 22, 1884 in Dortmund , † October 13, 1970 in Bad Honnef ) was a German sculptor .
life and work
Kniebe was first a businessman, then he studied sculpture with Peter Behrens at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Düsseldorf from 1908 to 1912 , after which he ran his own studio in Düsseldorf . In 1912 the first exhibition of his sculptures followed in the Cologne Sonderbund exhibition . This was followed in 1914 by the exhibition Rhenish Expressionists in the Flechtheim Gallery in Düsseldorf together with August Macke and Max Ernst, and in 1922 the exhibition in the Dresden Gallery of Arnold together with Karl Schmidt-Rottluff .
After the First World War he lived in Percha and Radebeul , there with Bernhard Weyrather and Otto Ziller .
Much of his work was lost or destroyed during the Nazi era. Including his largest and best-known work, the 15 m high monumental archangel and dragon slayer Michael , embossed in copper, a war memorial of the First World War. The Rheydter monument represents the high point of his career as a sculptor to date . It was set up in 1932 in the entrance area of the Grenzlandstadion in Rheydt , but removed again in 1940 and melted down for war needs.
In the 1930s there was intensive sculptural activity, then from 1940 until his death he turned to anthroposophically oriented painting.
He died in his studio, in the anthroposophical court community Mucherwiese in Bad Honnef , which he founded in 1935 , where he retired with like-minded friends during the Nazi era.
literature
- Maja Galle: The Archangel Michael in German Art of the 19th Century , Munich 2016 (utzverlag), page 171f.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ For quote and interpretation, see Galle, page 171.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Squats, Walther |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 22, 1884 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Dortmund |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 13, 1970 |
| Place of death | Bad Honnef |