Willy Stöwer

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Willy Stöwer in his studio (1903)
Grave of Willy Stöwer in Berlin-Kreuzberg
Poster designed by Stöwer with the Cap Trafalgar

Willy Stöwer (born May 22, 1864 in Wolgast ; † May 31, 1931 in Berlin ) was a German marine painter of the imperial era .

Life

The son of a Wolgast captain, whose talent for drawing was recognized early on, first learned the trade of a locksmith. After working as a technician in design offices in various German shipyards , Stöwer soon received his first orders as a painter , draftsman and illustrator . He had acquired his painting technique as an autodidact . His marriage in 1892 to Henriette Dettmann from a wealthy family enabled him to work only as a freelance artist.

Stöwer was a board member of the German Fleet Association . In 1900 he designed for the Cologne chocolate producer Ludwig Stollwerck Stollwerck collection pictures , a. a. the collection picture series 132 The new German warships for the Stollwerck collector 's album No. 3. Kaiser Wilhelm II was an enthusiastic supporter and supporter of the artist and owned several of his works. Willy Stöwer accompanied the monarch on several of his ship trips between 1905 and 1912. In 1907 he was awarded the title of professor.

Stöwer's depiction of the sinking of the Titanic in the journal Die Gartenlaube gained particular prominence . The illustration assignment, which he made shortly after the 1912 disaster without any real detailed information, had the following two errors in particular: During the sinking there were no icebergs in the vicinity and the fourth chimney could not emit black smoke as it was only used to Ventilation was used. The picture with further detailed errors has been quoted many times in Europe up to the present day and has been reprinted countless times. As an illustrator, Stöwer supplied around 900 black and white and 335 color illustrations for a total of 57 books between 1892 and 1929. Other orders included posters, postcards, labels and advertising brochures.

As with other marine painters from the imperial era, for example Hans Bohrdt , his great creative period came to an end with the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II and the decline of German naval power and the merchant fleet. He received only a few illustration orders from German shipping companies and had great problems until his death without making a living without the imperial favor.

Little noticed, Willy Stöwer died in 1931 in his Villa Gabrielenstrasse 68 in Berlin-Tegel, planned by the architect Paul Poser (1876–1940) and built in 1913 . He was buried in the hereditary funeral of the Dettmann family in Cemetery III of the Jerusalem and New Churches in Berlin-Kreuzberg . His wife, who died only four months after him, is also buried there.

Works (excerpt)

  • German U-Boot Taten 1916, illustrated book published by the Reichsmarinestiftung , Berlin 1916
  • Naval battle. Sinking of the Italian destroyer “Turbine” by Austrian destroyers on May 24, 1915. Oil on canvas, 50 × 75 cm. Army History Museum , Vienna
  • Battle on the Doggerbank (shelling of the English battle cruiser "HMS Lion" by the German torpedo boat "V5") , 1915, drawing, German Federal Archives , Koblenz.
  • The old ship of the line SMS Kaiser Friedrich III. under Helgoland , watercolor.
  • Gunboat Iltis steams past Algerine , transitioning to hand-to-hand combat , 1904
  • Small cruiser "SMS Berlin" of the Bremen class , German Federal Archives, Koblenz
  • Small cruiser "SMS Ariadne" in action , 1914, German Federal Archives, Koblenz

literature

  • Jörg-Michael Hormann : Willy Stöwer. Marine painter of the imperial era. Life and work. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, ISBN 3-78220-822-6 .
  • Jörg-Michael Hormann , Friedrich Scheele (ed.): “Art needs favor!” Willy Stöwer. Marine painter and illustrator of the imperial era. SMS Emden, ISBN 978-3-934865-11-2 .
  • Alexander Jenak: marine painter Willy Stöwer 1864–1931. Publisher: Sundwerbung, Brochure Series on German History, Issue 23, ISBN 978-3-939155-41-6 (32 pages).
  • Willy Stöwer: At sea with brush and palette , Georg Westermann, 1929.

Web links

Commons : Willy Stöwer  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stollwerck scrapbook No. 3. Verlag Gebr. Stollwerck, Berlin / Cologne / Vienna / Pressburg 1899.
  2. ^ Art & Culture in Tegel ( Memento from January 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), accessed on December 5, 2012
  3. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende : Lexicon of Berlin burial places . Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, ISBN 978-3-86514-206-1 , p. 247.
personal data
SURNAME Stöwer, Willy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German marine painter of the imperial era
DATE OF BIRTH May 22, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Wolgast
DATE OF DEATH May 31, 1931
Place of death Berlin