Ernst Oppler (19 September 1867 1 March 1929) was a German

Impressionist 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 passag ...

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ...

and

etcher Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

Early life

Ernst Oppler was the son of

Edwin Oppler Edwin Oppler (18 June 1831, in Oels – 6 September 1880, in Hanover) was a German architect of Jewish ancestry,Arno Herzig: ''Jüdische Geschichte in Deutschland. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart'', C. H. Beck Verlag, 2002, and , pg. 179; a ...

(1831-1880), a prominent German-Jewish architect. Ernst Oppler's brothers were the sculptor Alexander Oppler (1869-1937), the physician (1871-1943), and the attorney and notary (1873-1942).Siegmund Oppler
/ref> His cousin was the designer (1875-1965). He studied at the

Academy of Arts in Munich 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 Nikolaus Gysis and

Ludwig von Löfftz Ludwig von Löfftz (21 June 1845 – 3 December 1910) was a German genre and landscape painter. Biography He was born at Darmstadt. He was a pupil of August von Kreling and Karl Raupp at Nuremberg, then of Wilhelm von Diez at the Academy of ...

. Afterwards he moved to London to study the work of

James Abbott McNeill Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, one of his favorite artists. He became a member of the

International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers The International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers was a union of professional artists that existed from 1898 to 1925, "To promote the study, practice, and knowledge of sculpture, painting, etching, lithographing, engraving, and kindred ...

in 1898. His early work was naturalistic in approach. In 1901 he went to the Netherlands to practise the pleinair method, and painted elegant portraits of the gentry in subdued tones.

Berlin Secession

Back in Munich Oppler joined the Munich Secession. In 1904

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 ...

invited Ernst Oppler and

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 ...

to leave Munich and move to Berlin. both became there members of the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artists "seceded," demonstrating ag ...

, a group of artists who championed the new, German Impressionist style. Oppler became there a renowned portraitist, and also chronicled daily life through his drawings, etchings, painted cityscapes and genre scenes. With his brother the sculptor Alexander Oppler they had studios in their own ''Villa Oppler'' in Berlin-Grunewald and a city apartment in the Kurfürstenstraße. Ernst Oppler was invited seven times to the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

and participated six times. In 1912 after controversies about expressionism he stopped participating in the exhibitions of the Berlin secession but he still remained one of the most prominent members of the avantgarde. The German state bought works from Oppler and exhibited them in museums as examples of the new wave in art. Oppler started to visit dancing performances of the Russian ballet which was very popular at that time and began to document the performances. He became also an important chronicler of the history of ballet in Germany. Ernst Oppler died in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

on 1 March 1929.

Works

In Germany works by Ernst Oppler are on display at the National Gallery Berlin, the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, the Lower Saxony State Museum and others. Outside of Germany, his works are found in the Appleton Museum of Art, the Harvard Art Museums, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, the Israel-Museum, the Ateneum in Helsinki, the Museum of Modern Art in Venice and others.

Gallery

File:Ernst Oppler - Beach.jpg, ''At the Beach'', oil on canvas, 1910–12 File:Ernst Oppler Drei Mädchen im Laubengang.jpg, ''Three Girls in the Access Balcony'', oil on canvas File:Der-maler-und-jo oppler 1928.jpg, ''The Painter and Jo'', oil on canvas, 1928 File:Ernst Oppler Vor dem Auftritt.jpg, ''Ballet'', oil on canvas File:Ernst Oppler Tennisszene um 1920.JPG, ''Tennis'', etching, ca. 1920

References

External links