Max Slevogt (8 October 1868 – 20 September 1932) was a German Impressionist painter and illustrator, best known for his landscapes. He was, together with

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 ...

and

Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...

, one of the foremost representatives in Germany of the

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

style.

Biography

250px, Slevogthof Neukastel He was born in Landshut, Germany, in 1868. From 1885 to 1889 he studied at the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

Academy, and his early paintings are dark in tone, exemplifying the prevailing style in Munich. In 1889 Slevogt visited

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, where he attended the Académie Julian. In 1896, he drew caricatures for the magazines ''

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel Simplicius Simplicissimus and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a satirical German weekly magazine, headquartered in Munich, and founded by Albert Langen in April 1896. It continue ...

'' and ''Jugend'', and the next year he had his first solo exhibition in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Toward the end of the 1890s his palette brightened. He travelled again to Paris in 1900, where he was represented in the German pavilion of the world exhibition with the work ''Scheherezade'', and was greatly impressed by the paintings of

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism to Impressionism. Bo ...

. In 1901 he joined the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artists "seceded," demonstrating ag ...

. A trip to Egypt in 1914 resulted in 21 oil paintings in a fresh bright style, as well as numerous watercolors and drawings; on the return journey he stopped off in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. In June he acquired the country seat Neukastel. After the outbreak of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

he was sent as official war painter to the western front. The war experience brought about a search for new style appropriate to the expression of the horrors of war. In the same year he became a member of the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...

in Berlin. He designed scenery for the performance of Mozart's '' Don Giovanni'' in the Dresdner state opera in 1924. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics. In 1929 he was given a large 60th birthday exhibition in the Prussian academy of the arts in Berlin. During the last year of his life he worked on the religious mural ''Golgatha'' in the peace church in Ludwigshafen on the Rhine. It was destroyed by bombing raids during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. Max Slevogt died in Leinsweiler (at that time in the Rheinpfalz part of

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

) in 1932. He is buried in the burial place of the family Finkler east of his house, the so-called Slevogthof (with wall paintings) at Neukastel.

Restitutions of artworks

In 2020 the Saarland Cultural Heritage Foundation announced the return of the following Max Slevogt works to the heirs of Julius Freund, whose family was racially persecuted as Jews after 30 January 1933 and forced to sell under the Nazis. * ''Francisco d'Andrade (Head Study)'', 1902, oil on canvas. * ''The Port of Brindisi'', 1914, watercolor * ''Li-Hung-Tschang'', 1900, ink drawing * ''Scheherezade tells her story to the Caliph'', 1901, pen drawing * ''Mungos'', 1901, watercolor pen drawing * ''Lamenting Women (Lamenting Women in front of a House)'', ca.1898–1903, pen and ink drawing

Selected paintings

File:Slevogt, Max - Danae - Google Art Project.jpg, ''

Danaë In Greek mythology, Danaë (, ; ; , ) was an Argive princess and mother of the hero Perseus by Zeus. She was credited with founding the city of Ardea in Latium during the Bronze Age. Family Danae was the daughter and only child of King Acri ...

'' (1895) File:Max Slevogt - Portrait of the dancer Marietta di Rigardo - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of the Dancer Marietta di Rigardo'' (1904) File:Max Slevogt - Grape harvest - M.Ob.2561 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, ''Grape Harvest'' (ca. 1900–1909) File:Max Slevogt - Der Sänger Francisco d'Andrade als Don Giovanni in Mozarts Oper - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Francisco d'Andrade as Don Giovanni'' (1912) File:1913 Slevogt Unter den Linden anagoria.JPG, ''Under the Linden Trees'' (1913) File:Sudanese Women in Egypt by Max Slevogt (1914), Albertinum, Dresden.jpg, ''Sudanese Women in Egypt'' (1914),

Albertinum The Albertinum () is a modern art museum. The sandstone-clad Renaissance Revival building is located on Brühl's Terrace in the historic center of Dresden, Germany. It is named after King Albert of Saxony. The Albertinum hosts the New Masters ...

References

External links

Max Slevogt-Galery Schloss Villa Ludwigshöhe in Edenkoben
*
works by the artist at "Museumsportal Schleswig-Holstein"
* Slevogthof Neukastel (at Leinsweiler)
''German masters of the nineteenth century: paintings and drawings from the Federal Republic of Germany''
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Max Slevogt (no. 83–86)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slevogt, Max 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists 1868 births 1932 deaths Académie Julian alumni Impressionist artists German Impressionist painters Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) Orientalist painters People from Landshut Olympic competitors in art competitions