Heinrich Schlitt (August 21, 1849 – November 13, 1923) was a German painter and illustrator, known for his fantasy motifs that feature gnomes, dwarves, and faeries. He was one of the in-house artists at the Villeroy & Boch ceramic company in Mettlach, Saarland, and his designs for their beer steins remain popular with collectors to this day.

Early life

Schlitt was born in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

in the Duchy of Nassau, what would now be in the modern day German state of Hesse. His father was a member of the court of the Duke of Nassau, working as a coachman. After the Prussian annexation of the Duchy, Schlitt joined the Dutch military, a choice thought to be the result of the Schlitt family moving to the Netherlands with the rest of the exiled Duchy. Schlitt was a student of

Kaspar Kögler Kaspar Kögler (12 February 1838, Molsberg - 1 April 1923, Wiesbaden) was a German painter, illustrator and writer. Life and work He was the third of seven children born to a farming family. Originally, their name was spelled Kegeler or Keg ...

at his school in

. In 1875, he continued his studies at the

Academy of Fine 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

Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Younger Wilhelm Lindenschmit (the Younger) (June 20, 1829 – June 8, 1895) was a German history painter who was a native of Munich. He was the son of painter Wilhelm Lindenschmit the Elder (1806–1848). Biography He studied art in Mainz with his uncle ...

. He exhibited his works at exhibitions put on by the Munich Artists' Cooperative.

Works

Illustrator

Early in his career, Schlitt first became well known to the public as an illustrator. He produced hundreds of illustrations for a wide array of publications, including books, periodicals, and newspapers such as ''

Die Gartenlaube ''Die Gartenlaube – Illustriertes Familienblatt'' (; ) was the first successful mass-circulation German newspaper and a forerunner of all modern magazines.Sylvia Palatschek: ''Popular Historiographies in the 19th and 20th Centuries'' (Oxford: ...

'', ''Das Buch Für Alle'', and '' Illustrirte Zeitung''. File:Die Gartenlaube (1887) b 145.jpg, "The Old Poacher" from Die Gartenlaube, 1887 File:Die Gartenlaube (1890) b 120.jpg, "Madame Pompadour and Marquis Posa at the masquerade ball" from Die Gartenlaube, 1890 File:Die Gartenlaube (1890) b 121.jpg, "Madame Pompadour and Marquis Posa the next morning" from Die Gartenlaube, 1890

Ratskeller of the Munich New Town Hall

In 1905, Schlitt was selected by architect Georg von Hauberrisser to paint the ceilings of the Ratskeller at the New Town Hall in Munich. The paintings were originally intended to adorn the walls of the St. Johann Town Hall ratskeller, but after disputes between the municipal administration of St. Johann and Schlitt regarding payment for the works, Schlitt withdrew from the project and instead used the concepts for the paintings in the Munich Ratskeller. The paintings are considered to be some of his finest works. File:RatskellerNeuesRathausMünchenL1000673.JPG, Vault painting File:RatskellerNeuesRathausMünchenL1000668.JPG, Detail of the vault painting File:NeuesRathausMünchenWeinBiereSchlittL1050613 (2).jpg, ''When wine and beers are fighting ...'', Wall painting in the Ratskeller

Villeroy & Boch

Heinrich Schlitt was one of the principal in-house artists at Villeroy & Boch, a German ceramics manufacturer based in Mettlach. His work for the company is prominently featured on beer steins that they produced during the period, which are well known and held in renown amongst modern-day collectors of steins and ceramics. File:VundBKrugGeritztesSteinzeug(Schlitt-Zwerg).jpg,

Stoneware Stoneware is a rather broad term for pottery or other ceramics fired at a relatively high temperature. A modern technical definition is a vitreous or semi-vitreous ceramic made primarily from stoneware clay or non- refractory fire clay. Whether ...

design by Schlitt, produced by Villeroy & Boch

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlitt, Heinrich 1849 births 1923 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists People from Wiesbaden Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists