German Artists

German Artists:

Michael Heckert (*1950 in Halle an der Saale) is a contemporary painter who dedicates himself to abstract expressionism. The artist depicts and describes the phenomenon of the female. He was influenced by the US-American painter Willem de Kooning.

Mary Bauermeister was artistically influenced in secondary school (1946–54) by her drawing teacher, Günter Ott. She studied in 1954–55 at the Hochschule für Gestaltung in Ulm and in 1955–56 at the Staatlichen Schule für Kunst und Handwerk in Saarbrücken. She has been active since 1957 as a freelance artist in Cologne.

Theodore Rocholl Theodor Rocholl (* June 11 1854 in Sachsenberg, Waldeck, † September 13th 1933 in Dusseldorf) was a German painter, graphic artist and writer. He was a resident of Dusseldorf and was his photographic reporting from the front of several wars and other battle scenes, as well as landscapes, portraits and illustrations particularly well known.

Erich Buchholz (1891–1972) was a German artist in painting and printmaking. He was a central figure in the development of non-objective or concrete art in Berlin between 1918 and 1924. He interrupted his artistic activity in 1925, first because of economic hardship and, from 1933, as he was forbidden to paint by the National-Socialist authorities. He resumed artistic activity in 1945.

Julius Gustav Neubronner (8 February 1852, Kronberg im Taunus – 17 April 1932) was a German apothecary, inventor, company founder, and a pioneer of amateur photography and film. He was part of a dynasty of apothecaries in Kronberg im Taunus.

Friedrich Kurt Fiedler (8 March 1894 – 11 November 1950) was a German graphic designer and a representative of the Social Democratic Party. During the Weimar Republic he was acknowledged for his poster design, his book illustrations and his drawings. After World War II he belonged to the re-founders of the association of fine arts (Verein bildender Künstler) in Dresden, but lost his influence when all socialdemocratic forces were repelled.

Gerhard Mevissen (b. August 27, 1956) is a German artist whose main emphasis is on painting with watercolor and recently also the production of reliefs made of concrete.

Max Liebermann (July 20, 1847 – February 8, 1935) was a German-Jewish painter and printmaker best known for his etching and lithography.

Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German painter and printmaker whose mature work realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.
Tomma Abts (born 1967 in Kiel, Germany) is an abstract painter who lives and works in London, England. She won the Turner Prize in 2006.


German Museum:
Hamburger Kunsthalle

The early years
The Kunsthalle owes its existence to an initiative by the Kunstverein in Hamburg (Hamburg Art Union), which was founded in 1817 and opened the first "public municipal painting gallery" in the Börsenarkaden in 1850. The collection grew rapidly due to the contribution of gifted works, and it soon became necessary to provide a building in which to house it. In August 1869, financed largely through donations, the Hamburg Kunsthalle was opened.

The basis of the permanent collection, 1886-1914
In 1886 the first Director was appointed - Alfred Lichtwark, who brought worldwide fame to the museum. Through the rediscovery and acquisition of works by the great Hamburg painters of the Middle Ages (Master Bertram and Master Franke) and the Romantic Period (Philipp Otto Runge and Caspar David Friedrich), he initiated a rapid and successful expansion of recent masters up to the present day (Menzel, Leibl, Thoma, Liebermann und Corinth), also extending over the German border to include works by Courbet, Manet, Renoir, Bonnard, and Vuillard.

Rapid expansion and the advent of modern art, 1914-1933
Lichtwark's successor, Gustav Pauli, who was Director of the Kunsthalle from 1914 onwards, oversaw the extension of the museum into the so-called "new building", a move which had become unavoidable for reasons of space. The new building was opened in 1919 after the end of the First World War, and featured large exhibition rooms with light from above, flanked by cabinets lit from the side.
Pauli used the move into the new building as an opportunity to reorganize the collection. He established a more distinct arrangement of the stock, making it possible to gain insight into the historical developement of painting. The new art movement (Franz Marc, Kokoschka, Nolde and Picasso), which Lichtwark had no longer been able to follow, moved into the Kunsthalle with Pauli. His most stunning aquisition, however, was without a doubt Manet's "Nana", which is to this day one of the highlights of the collection.

Severe losses, 1933-1945
Following Pauli's departure in 1933, the provisional Director Harald Busch was able to defend the modern section for a time against attacks by National Socialist cultural politicians. However in 1937, under Director Werner Kloos, the destructive wave which aimed to confiscate "degenerate art" finally struck the Kunsthalle and destroyed the modern department. 74 paintings and arround 1,200 drawings and graphic works were lost.

1945-1955
Carl Georg Heise, who before 1933 had been Director of Museums in Lübeck, reestablished the reputation of the Hamburg Kunsthalle in the very difficult period after 1945. Most importantly, he completely rebuilt the collection of modern art, making it one of the best in Germany.

Extensions, 1955-1969
Alfred Hentzen, who succeeded Heise in 1955, was able to follow a path clearly defined by his predecessors. With funds now more readily available, it was possible to acquire works of art from the 19th century (Renoir, Gauguin) and, above all, modern painting and sculpture.

New inspiration, 1969-1990
As Director of the Kunsthalle from 1969 to 1990, Werner Hofmann gave the Museum fresh impetus. With the continued expansion of the collection, the Hamburg Kunsthalle was able to achieve an important position within the international museums landscape, above all as a result of exhibition such as the cycle "Art around 1800" (with works by C. D. Friedrich, Runge, Goya amongst others) which attracted worldwide attention.

Restructuring, since 1991
At the beginning of 1991 Uwe M. Schneede was appointed Director of the Kunsthalle, which has recently entered a period of change. The galleries have been renovated, and paintings by the old and recent masters as well as the modern art collection have been rearranged into an attractive new hanging. An extension building offering 6.000 m of exhibition space has opened in February 1997, and houses the new collection of contemporary art - "New Modernist" art from 1960 onwards.