Ewald Wilhelm Hubert Mataré (25 February 1887 in
Burtscheid, Aachen – 28 March 1965 in
Büderich) was a German
painter and
sculptor
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
, who dealt with, among other things, the figures of men and animals in a stylized form.
Career
Mataré began his instruction as an artist at the
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
in 1907. He was a student of Prof.
Julius Ehrentraut (b. 1841),
Lovis Corinth
Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism.
Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Sec ...
(1858–1925), and
History painter
History painting is a genre in painting defined by its subject matter rather than any artistic style or specific period. History paintings depict a moment in a narrative story, most often (but not exclusively) Greek and Roman mythology and Bible ...
Arthur Kampf
Arthur Kampf (28 September 1864 in Aachen – 8 February 1950 in Castrop-Rauxel) was a List of German painters, German painter. He was associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting.
Life
Kampf studied under Peter Janssen, among others, ...
. In 1918, he joined the
November Group. Mataré first dedicated himself to sculpture after finishing his painting studies. A great part of his sculpted work are of animal figures.
In 1932 he received a professorship 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 ...
. After the
Machtergreifung of 1933 however, all cultural and artistic life in Germany was brought into ideological alignment by the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
s; Mataré was denounced as
"degenerate" and expelled from his position. One of his sculptures "Die Katze" (The cat) was placed into the exhibition of shame and derision
"Entartete Kunst" (Degenerate Art) staged by the Nazis in Munich, 1937. Church commissions became his sole source of income.
After the war, Mataré was asked to become the director of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, but he quickly resigned because he felt there were still too many professors at the Akademie who had been actively teaching there during the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
. Furthermore, no one was interested in his ambitious reform plans, which would have allowed fourteen-year-olds to study at the Akademie. However he was active at the Academy – albeit in an off-site studio – for long enough to teach artists like
Günter Haese,
Erwin Heerich
Erwin Heerich (29 November 1922 in Kassel – 6 November 2004 in Meerbusch, Germany) was a German artist.
Life and work
From 1945 to 1950 Heerich studied fine arts at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf under Ewald Mataré. From 1950 to 1954, he bel ...
,
Georg Meistermann,
Hannes Rosenow, and, most famously,
Joseph Beuys
Joseph Heinrich Beuys ( , ; 12 May 1921 – 23 January 1986) was a German artist, teacher, performance artist, and art theorist whose work reflected concepts of humanism, sociology, and anthroposophy. He was a founder of a provocative art mov ...
.
[ Adriani, Götz, Winfried Konnertz, and Karin Thomas: Joseph Beuys: Life and Works. Trans. Patricia Lech. Woodbury, N.Y.: Barron’s Educational Series, 1979.] During the post-war era, Mataré took many commissions from the public sector; he also worked on many churches, e.g. he built four doors for the south portal of the
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...
. He participated in
documenta 1 (1955) and 2 (1959).
Work
Matare's work varies from the simplicity of his animal forms in which he explores shape and line, to the profound spirituality of his religious works. Even those not religiously inclined cannot fail to be deeply moved by many of these works. A 2006 exhibition of his work in Salzburg, Austria, demonstrated the heights which his work could achieve. It is remarkable that an artist of such power is not better known internationally.
Private life
In 1922, Mataré married the 31-year-old Hanna Hasenbäumer. Nonetheless, at 37 years old, he entered into a deep depression. They had a daughter, Sonja Beatrice (b. 9 August 1926). Mataré died in 1965 from a
pulmonary embolism
Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream ( embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathin ...
.
His nephew
Herbert Franz Mataré (1912–2011) was a German physicist and co-inventor of the "European
transistor
upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink).
A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch ...
" in 1948.
Awards
* 1914 Silver Medal at the
Prussian Academy of Arts
The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...
in
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
.
* 1952
Thorn Prikker Prize from the city of
Krefeld
Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...
* 1955 Gold medal at the
Milan Triennial
The ''Milan Triennial'' (Triennale di Milano) is an art and design exhibition that takes place every three years at the Triennale di Milano Museum in Milan, Italy.
History
The exhibition was originally established in 1923 as a biennial architect ...
* 1957
Stefan Locher Medal from the City of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
* 1958
Großes Verdienstkreuz of the
Federal Republic of Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between ...
Works
Mataré's most famous works include:
* Doors of the south portal of
Cologne Cathedral
Cologne Cathedral (german: Kölner Dom, officially ', English: Cathedral Church of Saint Peter) is a Catholic cathedral in Cologne, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and of the administration of the Archdiocese o ...
* Doors of the Church of Peace in
Hiroshima
* Altar design in St. Andreas Church in Düsseldorf
* The entire interior of St. Rochus Church in Düsseldorf (partially destroyed, lost)
* The phoenix in the
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more than 18 million inha ...
Parliament (''Landtag'') building
* The pigeon fountain in front of Cologne Cathedral
* Entrance gate and windows of 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 ...
* Portal of St. Lambertus Basilica in Düsseldorf
* Façade as well as Portal and Balcony at the Essen Minster Schatzhaus.
* Façade of
Haus Atlantis in
Bremen
* Soldier Memorial in
Cleves
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 ...
* His last large project (1965): Entrance doors and décor of the chapel at the Catholic Social Institute (KSI) of the
Archdiocese of Cologne
The Archdiocese of Cologne ( la, Archidioecesis Coloniensis; german: Erzbistum Köln) is an archdiocese of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and northern Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany.
History
The Electorate of Cologn ...
in
Bad Honnef
Bad Honnef () is a spa town in Germany near Bonn in the Rhein-Sieg district, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the border of the neighbouring state Rhineland-Palatinate. To the north it lies on the slopes of the Drachenfels (“Dragon' ...
.
References
* The information in this article is largely based on a translation of its
German version.
External links
Biography & Available works by Ewald Mataré
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matare, Ewald
1887 births
1965 deaths
Deaths from pulmonary embolism
20th-century German painters
20th-century German male artists
German male painters
German sculptors
German male sculptors
Modern sculptors
People from Aachen
Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Academic staff of Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
20th-century sculptors