Gustaf Adolf Britsch (11 August 1879 – 27 October 1923) was an early 20th-century German art theorist and the founder of Gustaf Britsch Institute in

Starnberg Starnberg is a German town in Bavaria, Germany, some southwest of Munich. It is at the north end of Lake Starnberg, in the heart of the " Five Lakes Country", and serves as capital of the district of Starnberg. Recording a disposable per-capi ...

, Germany.

Life

Gustaf Britsch was born into a middle-class

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

n family of teachers. He left his family early. He first studied architecture at the

University of Stuttgart The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany wit ...

and worked as an architect in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. Then he enrolled in 1906 at the Munich University of Philosophy and studied with

Hans Cornelius Johannes Wilhelm Cornelius (September 27, 1863 – August 23, 1947) was a German neo-Kantian philosopher and psychologist. Biography Born in Munich, he originally studied mathematics, physics, and chemistry, graduating with a Ph.D. in 1886, before ...

and

Theodor Lipps Theodor Lipps (; 28 July 1851 – 17 October 1914) was a Germans, German philosopher, famed for his theory regarding aesthetics, creating the framework for the concept of ''Einfühlung'' (empathy)'','' defined as, "projecting oneself onto the ob ...

. He created theories to the understanding of art by early 1907, which were received by

Adolf von Hildebrand Adolf von Hildebrand (6 October 1847 – 18 January 1921) was a German sculptor. Life Hildebrand was born at Marburg, the son of Marburg economics professor Bruno Hildebrand. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts Nuremberg, with Kaspar von ...

and Konrad Fiedler. In 1909 he founded in Florence the "Institute of Theoretical and Applied Art Studies". In 1910, he was encouraged by Cornelius to publish his theories. He moved back to Munich in 1911 and in 1912 opened the Institute of Theoretical and Applied Arts Science again on Theresa Street in

Schwabing Schwabing is a borough in the northern part of Munich, the capital of the German state of Bavaria. It is part of the city borough 4 (Schwabing-West) and the city borough 12 (Schwabing-Freimann). The population of Schwabing is estimated about 100 ...

. In 1913 he spoke at the Congress of Aesthetics and General Art Studies 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 constitue ...

. Together with his student Egon Kornmann he represented a highly regarded school of thought about children's artistic development, which found its way into art education programs in Germany. These theories were also contradictory to others, such as Richard Mund. After Britschs' death, Kornmannn continued the Gustaf Britsch Institute in Starnberg. He also married Britschs' widow Louise, and clarified with her Britschs' designs and theories. So the Starnberger Kornmann-Britsch-circle (also Britsch-Kormann School) was founded, which employed art teacher

Hans Herrmann Hans Herrmann (born 23 February 1928) is a retired Formula One and sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany. In F1, he participated in 19 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 2 August 1953. He achieved 1 podium, and scored a ...

. Kornmann was editor in the 1930s of the magazine ''The Shape''.

Gustaf Britsch Institute

The Gustaf Britsch Institute for Art Research (also known as: Institute of Theoretical and Applied Arts Science; School of Fine Arts Starnberg; private art school Britsch-Kornmann; Gustaf Britsch Institute for comparative viewing art) existed from 1912 in Munich and then from about 1920 to about 1967 in a fashionable villa on Prinzenweg 13 in Starnberg, headed by Egon and Louise Kornmann. Numerous international artists and art teachers were trained and employed for decades, such as: * 1912–1915 Arnold Clementschitsch * 1920 Fritz von Graevenitz * 1921/1925 Hermann Mayrhofer * 1925 Martin Seitz (Schüler von

Josef Wackerle Joseph Wackerle (15 May 1880, Partenkirchen – 20 March 1959, Partenkirchen) was a German sculptor. His work was also part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics. Life Wackerle's grandfather was a w ...

) * 1925–1929 Gerhard Gollwitzer * 1926 Rudolf Conrad Erich Allwardt * 1934 Irina Alexandrowna Borchman * 1939 Richard Lackner * 1943 Hans Grünseistoogolino.kunstwart.com
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Works

Britsch published art theoretical essays, which were created in part by Gustaf Britsch Institute Starnberg as teaching material: * Gustaf Britsch: Theory of Fine Art (edited by Egon Kornmann), 1926 * Gustaf Britsch: Theory of Fine Arts. 4 Edition, Verlag Henn, Ratingen 1966

Literature

* Otfried Contactor: Britsch and Kornmann. Quellenkundliche studies on the theory of the visual arts; Königshausen and Neumann. Würzburg, 1993. * Gustaf Britsch: Fonts. Fragments on art theory in the early 20th Century. In 1981. . * Egon Kornmann: Britsch, Gustav Adolf. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 2, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1955, , p 618 ( digitized ).

Life

Gustaf Britsch Institute

Works

Literature

Notes

References

Further reading