Albert Weisgerber (21 April 1878 – 10 May 1915) was a German painter whose work forms a bridge between

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 ...

and early

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

Biography

He was born in

Sankt Ingbert St. Ingbert (also ''Sankt Ingbert''; pfl, Dingmert or ''Dimbert'') is a town in the Saarpfalz district in Saarland, Germany with a population of 35,213 (2020). It is situated approximately 10 km north-east of Saarbrücken and 10 km so ...

. From 1897 to 1901 he studied at the

Munich Art Academy The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria ...

under

Franz von Stuck Franz von Stuck (February 23, 1863 – August 30, 1928), born Franz Stuck, was a German painter, sculptor, printmaker, and architect. Stuck was best known for his paintings of ancient mythology, receiving substantial critical acclaim with '' The ...

. He became friends with artists

Hans Purrmann Hans Marsilius Purrmann (April 10, 1880 – April 17, 1966) was a German artist. He was born in Speyer where he also grew up. He completed an apprenticeship as a scene painter and interior decorator, and subsequently studied in Karlsruhe and ...

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

, Wassily Kandinsky, Max Slevogt, and

Karl Arnold Karl Arnold (21 March 1901 – 29 June 1958) was a German politician. He was Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1947 to 1956. Early life and education Arnold was born in Herrlishöfen in Württemberg on 21 March 1901. He was tra ...

. In 1898, he set up his own artists' group, ''Sturmfackel'', with his friend Alfred Kubin. He earned his living making illustrations for the magazine '' Jugend''. In 1904 he was very active in the Munich café scene, where he met Margaret Pohl, who was also a painter and the daughter of a successful Jewish banker in Prague. They married in 1907. In 1913 he became founding president of the artists' collective; ''Münchner Neue Secession'', with members such as

Alexej von Jawlensky Alexej Georgewitsch von Jawlensky (russian: Алексе́й Гео́ргиевич Явле́нский, translit=Alekséy Geórgiyevich Yavlénskiy) (13 March 1864 – 15 March 1941), surname also spelt as Yavlensky, was a Russian expressioni ...

and

Alexander Kanoldt Alexander Kanoldt (29 September 1881 – 24 January 1939) was a German magic realist painter and one of the artists of the New Objectivity. Early life and education Alexander Kanoldt was born on 29 September 1881 in Karlsruhe in Baden-Württ ...

. According to the RKD, he is known today for his cartoons and illustrations as well as his paintings.Albert Weisgerber
in the RKD He was close friends with

Theodor Heuss Theodor Heuss (; 31 January 1884 – 12 December 1963) was a German liberal politician who served as the first president of West Germany from 1949 to 1959. His cordial nature – something of a contrast to the stern character of chancellor Ko ...

, who later became the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949. Heuss' young face can often be found within Weisgerber's paintings. He joined the German army in World War I and was promoted to the rank of major before being shot and killed on 10 May 1915 in the

Battle of Fromelles The Attack at Fromelles (, Battle of Fromelles, Battle of Fleurbaix or ) 19–20 July 1916, was a military operation on the Western Front during the First World War. The attack was carried out by British and Australian troops and was subsidiary ...

, west of Rijsel. In the months before his death, Weisgerber was Commanding Officer of the 1st Company of RIR 16 - the List Regiment. Technically, therefore, Weisgerber was

Adolf Hitler's Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

commanding officer when he died (although Hitler was assigned to Regimental HQ at the time). Weisgerber was only 37 years old. His body was initially buried in

Fournes-en-Weppes Fournes-en-Weppes () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is part of the Métropole Européenne de Lille. Hitler spent half of his war time service in World War I here. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department ...

, then exhumed and reburied in Nordfriedhof cemetery in Munich.

Selected paintings

File:Weisgerber, Albert - Pulakt se zlutymi kalhotami (1910).jpg, Half-nude in Yellow Pants Weisgerber gartenfest.jpg, Garden Party File:Prozession in St Ingbert Albert Weisgerber.jpg, Procession in

File:Weisgerber, Albert - David a Golias (1914).jpg, David and Goliath

References

Sources

External links

Albert Weisgerber
on

Artnet Artnet.com is an art market website. It is operated by Artnet Worldwide Corporation, which has headquarters in New York City, in the United States, and is owned by Artnet AG, a German publicly traded company based in Berlin that is listed on t ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weisgerber, Albert 1878 births 1915 deaths People from Sankt Ingbert German military personnel killed in World War I 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters German Army personnel of World War I