August Deusser - Selbstbildnis im blauen Rock 1911

August Deusser (15 February 1870, in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

– 28 October 1942, in

Konstanz Konstanz (, , locally: ; also written as Constance in English) is a university city with approximately 83,000 inhabitants located at the western end of Lake Constance in the south of Germany. The city houses the University of Konstanz and was th ...

) was a German painter and art professor, at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová ...

Life and work

From 1892 to 1897, he studied at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf; finishing as a master student of Peter Janssen At first, he painted

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

and historical works; with subjects ranging from farmers in the field, to scenes from

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. In one of his first successes, he won a competition for decorating the meeting room of the courthouse in

Kleve Kleve (; traditional en, Cleves ; nl, Kleef; french: Clèves; es, Cléveris; la, Clivia; Low Rhenish: ''Kleff'') is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century ...

; with a scene depicting the evening before the .Friedrich Schaarschmidt: ''Zur Geschichte der Düsseldorfer Kunst, insbesondere im XIX. Jahrhundert''. Kunstverein für die Rheinlande und Westfalen, Düsseldorf 1902, pp.367–369 Under the influence of

Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...

and

Wilhelm Trübner Wilhelm Trübner (February 3, 1851 – December 21, 1917) was a German realist painter of the circle of Wilhelm Leibl. Biography Trübner was born in Heidelberg. He was the third son of a silver- and goldsmith, Johann Georg Trübner, and h ...

, he became one of the first artists associated with the Düsseldorfer Malerschule to turn to

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating ...

. His first works in that style involved studies done on the training grounds of the 8th Cuirassiers "Count Geßler" regiment , resulting in a series of oils depicting their activities, in a style that is sometimes known as . They received harshly negative reviews from the critics in Düsseldorf, so he withdrew to

Monheim am Rhein Monheim am Rhein ( li, Monnem) is a town on the right (eastern) bank of the river Rhine in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Monheim belongs to the Mettmann (district), district of Mettmann – with the southern suburbs of Düsseldorf to the north, ...

. In 1908, he emerged to exhibit a series of horse portraits at the Alte Kunsthalle. On that occasion, he received positive reviews in the magazine, ', from its publisher, the writer

Wilhelm Schäfer Wilhelm Schäfer (20 January 1868 – 19 January 1952) was a German writer. Life Born in Ottrau (Grand Duchy of Hesse, Hesse), until 1896 Schäfer was a school teacher. He gained a scholarship to study in Switzerland and France through the Co ...

. In 1909, together with his friend, Max Clarenbach, and others, he co-founded the

Sonderbund The Sonderbund War (german: Sonderbundskrieg, fr , Guerre du Sonderbund, it , Guerra del Sonderbund) of November 1847 was a civil war in Switzerland, then still a relatively loose confederacy of cantons. It ensued after seven Catholic canton ...

, a union of artists devoted to

French Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

. They held major exhibitions in Düsseldorf (1911) and Cologne (1912). In that year, he moved to

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

. The organization was dissolved in 1916, during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1917, he was appointed a Professor at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He taught and painted there until his retirement in 1932. He died at his home in Konstanz, ten years later. Since 1972 his estate, the Deusser Foundation, has operated from

Bad Zurzach Bad Zurzach is a former municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. It is the seat of the district. On 1 January 2022 the former municipalities of Bad Zurzach, Baldingen, Böbikon, Kaiserstuhl, Rekingen, Riethe ...

in Switzerland. His home in Monheim am Rhein is now a museum.

References

External links

*
Complete paintings
@ the Deusser Stiftung {{DEFAULTSORT:Deusser, August 1870 births 1942 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German Impressionist painters Academic staff of Kunstakademie Düsseldorf Artists from Cologne 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists

Life and work

References

Further reading

External links