Wilhelm Tank

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Wilhelm Tank (born June 15, 1888 in Kuschlin , Province of Posen ; † September 29, 1967 in Berlin ) was a German academy professor for plastic anatomy, painter and sculptor. Through his teaching activity over a period of five decades, as the author of 14 books and over 100 articles on scientific and artistic topics, he became a formative personality in his field of teaching.

Life, education

Tank was born as the son of the Protestant superintendent Emil Tank ( Church of the Old Prussian Union ). His family came from East Prussia . After graduating from high school, Wilhelm first studied mechanical engineering .

His professional career in Berlin began at the University of Fine Arts in Berlin ( University of the Arts Berlin ). Tank also studied anatomy with Hans Virchow at the Friedrich Wilhelms University . In 1911 Tank was one of the students of the then famous anatomist Paul Richer, Professor of Artistic Anatomy in Paris . During the years of his training as well as in his professional life, Tank undertook study trips through northern Africa, the Middle East, southern Russia, England, France, Italy, Spain and the entire German-speaking area in order to "study the essence of people" on site.

The teaching activity

Teaching began for Tank in 1912. He was appointed to teach anatomical and life drawing at the Charité Berlin. Commitments to gymnastics school and art school followed. From 1925 to 1936 he was a lecturer at the German University for Physical Education. In 1929 he was appointed to the Berlin School of Fine Arts. He was appointed associate professor and then full professor . Subsequently he held lectures at the University of Fine Arts and at the Free University of Berlin until the summer of 1962. In his retirement, Tank took on three adult education centers.

Master student

Tank was regarded by art students in Berlin in the 1930s and 1940s as the "most sought-after academy professor" in the field of drawings. Erwin A. Schinzel and Manfred Welzel , who made a successful career as German sculptors of the classical tradition after the Second World War, were among his master students . As young trainees, both were recommended by Arno Breker to his artist friend Tank for admission to master classes. During the war, Breker and Tank had campaigned for young art lovers to be able to begin studying before they were called up for military service.

Public work

Tank achieved public impact as a draftsman and painter through the illustration of publications and through the exhibition of his graphic and sculptural works from 1920. These include presentations and group exhibitions , such as the Great German Art Exhibition in Munich and Berlin until 1965. a. in the Galerie Edition Marco Bonn (1978) in the Museum Europäische Kunst NRW (1985) and in the Galerie Schloss Nörvenich NRW (2003).

Tank also brought his expertise to bear in cultural and political engagement in radio and film. In 1928 he developed the "German Funkgymnastik" with the director Arthur Holz and illustrated the first edition of this publication. In 1925, together with director Wilhelm Prager, he was the initiator and co-designer of the first physical culture film, Paths to Strength and Beauty . Tank drew an elaborate poster to announce the one-hour film. Leni Riefenstahl, who was hardly known at the time, also took part in the film episodes . In scene appearances were among others: Gerhart Hauptmann , Camilla Horn , La Jana , Jack Dempsey , Johnny Weissmüller as well as dancers from the Mary Wigman School, including Leni Riefenstahl.

Honors

A plaque commemorates him on his former home at Am Vogelherd 26 in the Eichkamp estate .

Fonts (selection)

  • Animal anatomy for artists. Verlag Ravensburg, 1989, ISBN 3-473-43182-6 .
  • Destroyed art, indignant contemporaries. Blick + Bild-Verlag, 1965, VG Edition Marco, Bonn (memories).
  • Head and life drawing. Academic Publishing Company, Frankfurt am Main 1963.
  • The self-destruction of civilization. WT-Verlag, Berlin 1964/65, VG Edition Marco, Bonn

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ wilhelm-tank-archiv , accessed on February 20, 2015.
  2. ↑ Manifesto 1964: The Self-Destruction of Civilization
  3. ^ Siegfried Nöhring: Above all beauty. Exhibition catalog. Museum of European Art, 2000, ISBN 3-935172-02-8 .
  4. ↑ Georg Bussmann (Red.): Art in the 3rd Reich. Documents of submission. Verlag 2001 for the Frankfurter Kunstverein, Frankfurt am Main 1981, p. 246, m. Fig.Wilhelm Tank, Festive Dance , GDK 1938
  5. ↑ Funk gymnastics. 84 exercises for the gymnastics course. Funk-Dienst publishing house, Berlin 1929.
  6. ^ Memorial plaque Wilhelm Tank berlin.de, accessed on February 22, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Tank, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German anatomist, scientist, academy professor for plastic anatomy, painter and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1888
PLACE OF BIRTH Kuschlin , Poznan Province
DATE OF DEATH 29th September 1967
Place of death Berlin