Willy Reetz (27 May 1892 – 24 July 1963) 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 ...

. Occasionally his first name is given as Wilhelm, but he never used this name by himself and signed all his work as 'Willy Reetz'. He is not related to the painter Wilhelm Reetz (1887–1946).

Early life

Willy Reetz was born and died in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, where he started his career as an apprentice with a church painter. After that he attended the renowned

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for thes ...

. After World War I Reetz studied at 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, ...

under Professor Schmurr. From 1920 to 1924 he was a student in the master class of Professor Hans Kohlschein. Study trips to the Netherlands, France and Italy followed.

Themes

Willy Reetz had an extraordinary talent for landscape, figures and portraits. In his early years until World War II he performed mural painting which had a long tradition in

. His mastery in this respect was reflected by the creation of several mural paintings in the Düsseldorf region: Together with Hans Kohlschein he created the frescos in the church Maria Rosenkranz in Düsseldorf-Wersten. In 1928/29 Reetz won the competition for the execution of murals in Düsseldorf's Dreifaltigkeitskirche and executed these until summer 1929. Commissions for St. Josef in Düsseldorf-Oberbilk, for churches in Süchteln, Galkhausen, Elberfeld and Sittard followed. Reetz also created secular murals in several restaurants and designed glas windows and mosaics. Unfortunately, almost all of these works were destroyed during World War II. Another focus of Willy Reetz' activity was the creation of portraits and paintings of landscape. Reetz was a highly estimated member of the "Düsseldorfer Schule", also beyond Düsseldorf. Today, only few of his paintings remain in museums and private collection as his atelier was destroyed during a bombing of Düsseldorf in 1943. Over 40 years, Willy Reetz was a member of the artists organization "

Malkasten Malkasten (English: "Paintbox") is a progressive German artists' association, founded in Düsseldorf in 1848, during the March Revolution. Since 1867, their headquarters have been in the Pempelfort district. History During the unrest in 1848, ...

" and saved its precious archives during the war. After the war, Willy Reetz became a member of the artists group "Künstlergruppe 1949" and continued his activities in the "Malkasten" thus contributing to its reconstruction.

Selected works

Image:Willy_Reetz_Portrait_1915.jpg, "Portrait" 1915 Image:Willy_Reetz_Badende_ca1919.jpg, "Badende" ca. 1919 Image:Willy_Reetz_Portrait_Augusta_Hoellen_1921.jpg, "Portrait Augusta Höllen" 1921 Image:Willy_Reetz_Portrait_Hans_Hoellen_1921.jpg, "Portrait Hans Höllen" 1921 Image:Willy_Reetz_Vor_dem_Spiegel_ca1928.jpg, "Vor dem Spiegel" ca. 1928 Image:Willy_Reetz_Kornhocken_am_Waldrand_ca1946.jpg, "Kornhocken am Waldrand" 1946 Image:Willy_Reetz_Pferde_1946.jpg, "Pferde" 1946 Image:Willy_Reetz_Alte_Eiche_1947.jpg, "Alte Eiche" 1947

External links

Painting at Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reetz, Willy 1892 births 1963 deaths 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters German modern painters Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni