Harry Rabinger (1895–1966) was a Luxembourg artist who is remembered for his portraits and Expressionist landscape paintings, especially those of the industrial area in the south of the country."Rabinger, Harry (Henri)", ''Luxemburger Lexikon'', Editions Guy Binsfeld, Luxembourg, 2006.

Biography

Born in the Pfaffenthal district of Luxembourg City on 25 February 1895, Rabinger started his art studies in Paris but was forced to go to Munich when war broke out in 1914. He completed his education by travelling widely, in particular to Hungary, Austria, Czechoslovakia and the Netherlands. It was in 1919 that he came into contact with the south of Luxembourg as an art teacher at the ''Ecole Industrielle et Commerciale'' and at the ''Lycée des Jeunes Filles'' in Esch-sur-Alzette. At the time, industry was expanding rapidly in the area, providing him with vivid scenes of mines, factories, railways and buildings caked in rusty red coatings.Georgette Bisdorff, "Harry Rabinger"
, ''Ons stad'', No 79, 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2011 (pdf). Although he first became a member of the

Cercle artistique de Luxembourg The Cercle artistique de Luxembourg (CAL), originally the Cercle artistique luxembourgeois, is an association founded in 1893 which brings together artists of all types with a view to supporting artistic work and art education in the Grand Duchy of ...

, he joined

Joseph Kutter Joseph Jean Ferdinand Kutter (1894–1941) is considered one of Luxembourg's most important painters. He was greatly influenced by the Impressionists but developed his own distinctive Expressionist style. Early life Kutter was born on 12 Decemb ...

Nico Klopp Nico Klopp (1894–1930) was a Luxembourg painter remembered above all for his post-impressionist paintings of scenes on the River Moselle where he lived. Early life Born on 18 September 1894 at Bech-Kleinmacher on the Moselle in south-eastern Lux ...

and others as a co-founder of the Luxembourg secession movement which succeeded in promoting

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

. After exhibiting his work both in Luxembourg and Brussels, he was charged by the State to paint his monumental work "Terres Rouges" (Red Lands) for the Luxembourg pavilion at the 1937 World Exhibition in Paris. In 1939, together with

Jean Schaak Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * J ...

, he exhibited large decorative panels at the New York fair where he won an award for his "Ville de Luxembourg". After the war, he went through a difficult period, limiting himself to teaching. He died on 7 September 1966 at his home in

Limpertsberg Limpertsberg ( lb, Lampertsbierg) is a quarter in north-western Luxembourg City, in the centre of Luxembourg. In the south, on the border with the main city is the Glacis, a large open air parking lot which hosts the annual Schueberfouer fair, ...

Style

Rabinger's work varies from brightly coloured still lifes to startlingly realistic nudes and portraits, including his famous women with boyish hairdos. Above all, he is remembered for his landscapes of the wilds of Normandy and Brittany with rocks, cliffs and rugged coastlines. But he also painted the quieter villages and valleys of the

Moselle The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...

and the Alzette and the mountains up in the

Oesling The Oesling or Ösling () is a region covering the northern part of both the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Eifelkreis Bitburg-Prüm, within the greater Ardennes area that also covers parts of Belgium and France. The Oesling covers 32% of the terri ...

. As a young artist, he was first influenced by Impressionism but soon developed an Expressionist somewhat Fauvist style with intense colouring and strong contrasts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabinger, Harry People from Luxembourg City 1895 births 1966 deaths 20th-century Luxembourgian painters 20th-century male artists Male painters