German Painting: How Art captured modern Life and Light

The text below is the excerpt of the book German Painting (ISBN: 9781783107933), written by Klaus H. Carl, published by Parkstone International.

The cleavage of Berlin artists dates back to the year 1891 with the dispute over the artists represented in the Great International Art Exhibitions. Here in the forefront was Edvard Munch (1863-1944), from the creative no-man’s-land Norway.

This exhibition led, together with the then prevailing taste for all things Nordic, especially in art and literature, in Berlin, to Munch’s invitation in 1892 to show his work in Germany’s oldest artists union, the union of Berlin artists, that was founded in 1841. The head of the association maintained close ties to the imperial court, so that at first sight, there was hope for influential patrons.

However, Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941) redefined art in painting, and he only considered history painting art; other issues or even modern art movements simply did not exist. Accordingly, he had installed thirty-two monumental sculptures at the turn of the century on the Victory Boulevard as a mirror of Prussian history.

But not only the Emperor, but also committee members of the Association of Berlin Artists, unfamiliar with Munch’s works, were shocked by the clarity of some of his themes; some older painters considered Munch’s work even as an anarchist provocation. There was considerable excitement, which ended with a succès de scandale, its political implications, of course, also reaching the imperial court. The event dominated the newspaper headlines for a while, which was the best imaginable promotion for Munch.

In 1892, Max Liebermann (1847-1935) and Walter Leistikov (1865-1908) initiated a union of eleven artists, The Union of the XI. They also took over the leadership of the Berlin Secession, founded on 2 May 1898. Overall, the group included outstanding artists like Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945), Rudolf Heinrich Zille (1858-1929), Lovis Corinth, and Max Slevogt (1868-1932).

Käthe Kollwitz

Käthe Kollwitz worked as a sculptor and graphic artist creating pieces of great human empathy and social passion. She came from Konigsberg, now Kaliningrad since 1919, and was a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts, until she was also considered by the National Socialists as ‘intolerable’ and removed from office as a professor. Her works can be assigned to Realism and she turned to the neglected social issues and developed a timeless style.

Her major works include the cycle etchings A Weavers’ Revolt (1895-1898), The Peasants’ War (1902-1908), and the series of woodcuts, The War (1922-1923). Käthe Kollwitz died just before the end of World War II in the vicinity of the devastated city of Dresden. The Käthe-Kollwitz-Museum in Berlin preserved her memory and many of her works.

Heinrich Zille

The painter, illustrator, and photographer Rudolf Heinrich Zille, who was proud of his Berlin nickname ‘Brush Henry’, was a committed social critic and painter widely known for his descriptions of the underprivileged people in a good many slums and tenements of Berlin, known as ‘Zille and his milieu’. He not only made the acquaintance of Max Liebermann, who introduced him to the Berlin Secession, but also got to know, alongside others, Käthe Kollwitz, with whom he enjoyed a longlasting friendship.

Zille published his work in numerous satirical magazines such as Simplicissimus or Practical Joke, in the form of murals in Berlin beer cellars and in folders such as Mother Earth (1905) and Twelve Artist’s Prints (1909). He became so well-known through his soft coal or chalk line drawings that the composer Willi Kollo (1904-1988) and Hans Pflanzer set a famous poem by Claire Waldoff (1884- 1957) to music and Hildegard Knef (1925-2002) interpreted “Chanson”, the very popular chorus of which was:

That was his milieu

That was his milieu.

Each tavern and distillery

Knows the Good Father Zille.

Each cab-horse

Has heard of him.

From North to East to far away

That was his milieu.

Max Liebermann

The work of Menzel, viewed from a purely pictorial side, was continued by Max Liebermann (1847-1935). Even if occasionally the influences of other masters can be felt – especially the hand of Rembrandt in his drawings – the entirety of his oeuvre turns out to be markedly coherent and personal. The main champion of German Impressionism, Liebermann is considered most influenced by Jean-François Millet (1814-1875).

Liebermann’s first, sensational picture was the Plucking of the Geese (1872, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin), which was then followed by Preserve Makers (1879, Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, Leipzig), Workers in the Beet Field (1873, Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover, Hanover), and Digging for Potatoes in the Dunes at Zandvoort (1891, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg). He was among the first German painters who went to the Netherlands, in order to learn and benefit from the art of Frans Hals and the special atmosphere of the country. As much as initially the specific Dutch in works such as Old Men’s Hospice in Amsterdam (1880, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Stuttgart), Net Mending (1887-1889, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg), or Free Hour at the Orphanage in Amsterdam (1881-1882; Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main) and similar themes appealed to him, later on, after having also sought such motives at the coast, he paid greater attention to the movements of air and light. Dating from around 1890 are Old Pilot (Museum Georg Schäfer, Schweinfurt) and Woman with Goats (Neue Pinakothek, Munich). Liebermann’s early works are painted, according to Menzel’s model, with meticulous detailed treatment.

When Liebermann, founding member of the Munich Secession, began to value the presentation of intangible factors more, such as are air and light, his painting style became much freer, wider and, when Manet and the French Impressionists became known, even aerated. Equally, his initially dark, but always fine-toned colours brightened, until they were almost pure and luminous.

With these new colours, also came new themes, seen in Bathing Boys (1896-1898) and a painting of the same name from 1900 (both in a private collection), Rainy Day Atmosphere near the Elbe (1902, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg), and Beach Scene in Norwijk (1908, Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover, Hanover), and Hamburger views, gardens, villas, restaurants, and many others, but he always remained faithful to his line, the reproduction of active life.

Liebermann’s numerous portraits mainly include several self-portraits, but also the portraits of the art historian Wilhelm von Bode (1845-1929; 1904, Alte Nationalgalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Berlin) and the former President of the Reich, Paul von Hindenburg (1847-1934; 1927, Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum Hannover, Hanover). In his portraits, the influence of Frans Hals is noticeable, but psychology was certainly not his strong point, and a certain schematic treatment of the scenic design with the same grey background make the majority of these works outdone by others. His drawings exemplify the artist’s ability to create the picturesque with the fewest resources of ambiance, movement, and situation.

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