Oskar Moll (21 July 1875, Brieg – 19 August 1947,

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 ...

) was a German

Fauvist Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the representational or realistic values retai ...

painter; best known for his landscapes, portraits and somewhat abstract still-lifes.

Biography

Moll initially studied biology in Switzerland, but also taught himself how to paint and decided to pursue art as a career instead. After some time in Munich, he went to Berlin, where he became an assistant in the studios of

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 ...

. In 1906, he married the sculptor and painter, Margarethe Haeffner. The following year, they went to Paris, where he made the acquaintance of

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, and sculptur ...

and became an habitué of

Le Dôme Café Le Dôme Café () or Café du Dôme is a restaurant in Montparnasse, Paris that first opened in . Based on the example established by La Closerie des Lilas (created in 1847) and followed by Café de la Rotonde (created in 1911), Le Select (creat ...

. As a result he, Margarethe and their friend Hans Purrmann participated in creating the short-lived Académie Matisse. During the war, he lived in Berlin and was among the first members of the November Group. He was also a member of the Free Secession. In 1918, he became a Professor at the . He succeeded

August Endell August Endell (1871–1925) was a designer, writer, teacher, and German architect. He was one of the founders of the Jugendstil movement, the German counterpart of Art Nouveau. His first marriage was with Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven. Life Augus ...

as its Director in 1925 and served until its closure in 1932, following the emergency decrees issued by

Heinrich Brüning Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning (; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932. A political scienti ...

. He then transferred to 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 ...

, but was there for only a year when he was defamed and dismissed for being a purveyor of "

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was concer ...

: ''Das Kulturlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' S. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007, , pg.415. A planned exhibition of his works was closed 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 ...

government in 1935. Two years later, thirty-five of his works were confiscated and displayed at the propagandistic Degenerate Art Exhibition in Munich. In 1936, he and Margarethe had settled into a reclusive life in Berlin, but their home and studio, along with numerous paintings, some by Matisse and Picasso, were destroyed during an air raid in 1943. They attempted to find refuge in his hometown, but were forced to return to Berlin in 1945 when the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army ( Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, afte ...

occupied that area. He died in Berlin in 1947 Recently, the has begun a research project devoted to his works.

Selected paintings

File:Oskar Moll Felsen am Bach.jpg, Rocks by a Brook File:Oskar Moll Cat with House Plant.jpg, Cat with a House Plant File:SÜDLICHE LANDSCHAFT MIT INDUSTRIE .PNG, Southern Landscape with Factory File:Oskar-Moll-Akt-mit-Faecher-im-Gruenen.jpg, Nude with a Fan,
Amid the Leaves File:Oskar Moll Brigitte mit rotem Kleid 1934.jpg, Brigitte (his daughter)
in a Red Dress

References

External links

*
Oskar Moll Projekt
Homepage
Oskar Moll
Homepage of the website by his daughter, Brigitte Würtz
More works by Moll
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Moll, Oskar 1875 births 1947 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German Expressionist painters German still life painters People from Brzeg Kunstakademie Düsseldorf faculty 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists

Biography

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links