Willi Geiger (August 17, 1878 in

Landshut Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...

- February 11, 1971 in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

) was a German

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 ai ...

Biography

The son of a teacher, Willi Geiger was born 1878 in Landshut. From 1898-99, he attended the Munich Arts and Crafts School, and later the Technical University, where he passed the state examination to teach drawing. Willi Geiger studied from 1903 with Franz von Stuck at the

Munich Academy 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, ...

, including together with

Hans Purrmann Hans Marsilius Purrmann (April 10, 1880 – April 17, 1966) was a German artist. He was born in Speyer where he also grew up. He completed an apprenticeship as a scene painter and interior decorator, and subsequently studied in Karlsruhe and ...

. He was awarded the National prize and the Schack scholarship for some of his early work and he traveled to Spain, Italy, and North Africa. Willi Geiger was awarded the 1910 Villa Romana prize for his success as a graphic designer. He worked with

Richard Dehmel Richard Fedor Leopold Dehmel (18 November 1863 – 8 February 1920) was a German poet and writer. Life A forester's son, Richard Dehmel was born in Hermsdorf near Wendisch Buchholz (now a part of Münchehofe) in the Brandenburg Province, Ki ...

Frank Wedekind Benjamin Franklin Wedekind (July 24, 1864 – March 9, 1918) was a German playwright. His work, which often criticizes bourgeois attitudes (particularly towards sex), is considered to anticipate expressionism and was influential in the de ...

, and others. Geiger lived until 1914 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 ...

and presented in the gallery. Then he went back to Munich and became a professor at the School of Decorative Arts. He copied paintings by the great Spanish painters

Goya Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes (; ; 30 March 174616 April 1828) was a Spanish romantic painter and printmaker. He is considered the most important Spanish artist of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. His paintings, drawings, and ...

, Velasquez, and

El Greco Domḗnikos Theotokópoulos ( el, Δομήνικος Θεοτοκόπουλος ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco ("The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance. "El G ...

and turned to portrait painting. Geiger's study of El Greco's work is reflected in his portrait of the composer

Hans Pfitzner Hans Erich Pfitzner (5 May 1869 – 22 May 1949) was a German composer, conductor and polemicist who was a self-described anti-modernist. His best known work is the post-Romantic opera ''Palestrina'' (1917), loosely based on the life of the s ...

. After the seizure of power by the Nazis, he was dismissed as a lecturer at the Leipzig Academy. He was politically opposed to the Nazi Party, and his artworks were deemed "degenerate" by the authorities. On retirement, he continued to paint, and after the war, in 1946 taught again at the College of Fine Arts in Munich. In 1951, Willi Geiger received the Culture Prize of the City of Munich where he lived until his death in 1971. Willi Geiger's son,

Rupprecht Geiger Rupprecht Geiger (26 January 1908 – 6 December 2009) was a German abstract painter and sculptor. Throughout his career, he favored monochromicity and color-field paintings. For a time, he concentrated solely on the color red. Life and work ...

, also became a well-known artist and professor.

References

20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters 1878 births 1971 deaths People from Landshut Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Artists from Munich Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany {{Germany-painter-stub

Biography

See also

References