Paul Ehrhardt (August 2, 1888 in

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river. Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebu ...

– 1981 in Lippstadt) was a German painter.

Life

Born on August 2, 1888 in Magdeburg, he spent his early life in

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 ...

and Alvensleben/Magdeburg. In 1910/11 he went to

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...

to learn the profession of a mechanic. During WWI he served at the Westfront, an experience which deeply impacted him. After the War in 1919, Paul Ehrhardt settled in the Westphalian city

Osnabrück Osnabrück (; wep, Ossenbrügge; archaic ''Osnaburg'') is a city in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the river Hase in a valley penned between the Wiehen Hills and the northern tip of the Teutoburg Forest. With a population ...

. He found employment in the Osnabrücker Kupfer- und Drahtwerk for about seven years. In this time he worked on that war experience with some charcoal drawings. Also rare at that time, he created interior views of the factory, and its workers. At that time he had contact with the Berliner painter and etcher Julius C. Turner (1881–1948) who is also known for his industrial interiors. Turner established also a contact to

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ' ...

who exhibited at that time in Osnabrück. With the help of a stipend of the city of Osnabrück, he was able to study from 1929 for about two years at the Kunsthochschule Kassel under professor Curt Witte (1882–1959), its director from 1925 to 1932. In Kassel Ehrhardt continued not only the study of portraits and academic nudes, but also of industrial interiors. While the city directory of Osnabrück of 1928/9 registers him as a mechanic, he is called in the directory of 1930 as 'art painter'. From the 1930s on, a large oeuvre of him survived mostly in private collections, showing his popularity and his success among his buyers. He was now able to support his family with his art work. His main subjects are local views of

, cityscapes, streets, the Halster Mill, but also landscapes of the

Harz The Harz () is a highland area in northern Germany. It has the highest elevations for that region, and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia. The name ''Harz'' derives from the Middle High German ...

, views at the port of

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the ...

. He still was interested in industrial interiors. The

Georgsmarienhütte Georgsmarienhütte () is a town in the district of Osnabrück, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the Teutoburg Forest, approx. 7 km south of Osnabrück. History In 1856 the company "Georgs-Marien-Bergwerks- und Hüttenverein" wa ...

, the steel mill south of Osnabrück, became his favourite subject. Coming himself from a mechanics' background his paintings of the steel mill stand out at that time, and were compared in a 1989 exhibition with

Adolph Menzel Adolph Friedrich Erdmann von Menzel (8 December 18159 February 1905) was a German Realist artist noted for drawings, etchings, and paintings. Along with Caspar David Friedrich, he is considered one of the two most prominent German painters of t ...

. In his concentration on architecture, landscape and lighting, he created a timeless atmosphere in his paintings. His artwork thrived in a milieu where an oil painting belonged to the pre-requisites of a German middle class home. After WWII and the destruction of large swaths of Osnabrück and other German cities, he re-gained popularity among his customers in the 1950s. They cherished the timelessness and his historical views of Osnabrück and other sites, depicting a peaceful pre-war era gone forever. When tastes in art and middle class life style changed in the 1960s and 1970s, his traditional customer base vanished and he became almost forgotten. An exhibition in 1989 in Osnabrück re-discovered him as an important regional painter of the mid-century, who recorded with a keen eye Osnabrück and its region.

Bibliography

Myller, Sabine: Paul Ehrhardt. Eine Ausstellung des kulturgeschichtlichen Museums und des Museums- und Kunstvereins Osnabrück 10. September - 8. Oktober 1989 (Osnabrücker Kunst und Künstler im Akzisehaus), Osnabrück 1989.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrhardt, Paul 1888 births 1981 deaths German male painters