August Brömse (2 September 1873, in

Františkovy Lázně Františkovy Lázně (; ) is a spa town in Cheb District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,600 inhabitants. Together with neighbouring Karlovy Vary and Mariánské Lázně, it forms the West Bohemian Spa Triangle. Th ...

– 7 November 1925, in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

) was a Bohemian German etcher and painter.

Life and work

He was the son of Karl Johann Brömse, a

decorative painter A house painter and decorator is a tradesperson responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator, or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is t ...

from

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

. After an apprenticeship in his father's workshop, he received lessons at a private school in Berlin, operated by Adolf Schlabitz. From 1892, he attended the

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, where he studied with Woldemar Friedrich, Christian Ludwig Bokelmann, and the animal painter,

Paul Friedrich Meyerheim Paul Friedrich Meyerheim (13 July 1842 – 14 September 1915) was a German painter and graphic artist. He did portraits and landscapes, but is best known as a painter of animals. Life Paul Friedrich Meyerheim was born in Berlin on 13 July ...

. He also took courses in anatomy from

Rudolf Virchow Rudolf Ludwig Carl Virchow ( ; ; 13 October 18215 September 1902) was a German physician, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist, writer, editor, and politician. He is known as "the father of modern pathology" and as the founder o ...

. His artistic education was completed with private classes in

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...

and

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design on a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ar ...

, taught by Louis Jacoby. After that, he returned home and worked as a freelance artist. It was there, from 1902 to 1903, that he created his first large etching cycle, " Death and the Maiden", in fourteen sheets. It was awarded a gold medal in 1906, at an exhibition in the Palais du Travail, in Paris. The etchings were eventually acquired by the

Kupferstichkabinett Berlin The Kupferstichkabinett, or Museum of Prints and Drawings, is a Print room, prints museum in Berlin, Germany. It is part of the Berlin State Museums, and is located in the Kulturforum on Potsdamer Platz. It is the largest museum of graphic art ...

. Encouraged by his success in Paris, he moved to Prague, where he once again started as a freelance artist. From 1906 to 1908, he worked on another cycle, of ten sheets, called "Das ganze Sein ist flammend Leid" (roughly; The Whole of Existence is Fiery Suffering/Sorrow). In 1907, he began to work with colored etchings; converting his first cycle into that format. In his later years, he created paintings from a type of paint that he made himself. He was married in 1910, to Else Schünemann and they had one son. That same year, he was named a full member of the "Society for the Advancement of Science and Art" and appointed a Professor at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

. His best known student there was

Mikuláš Galanda Mikuláš Galanda (4 May 1895 – 5 June 1938) was a painter and illustrator who was one of the most important pioneers and propagators of Slovak modern art. He is buried in the National Cemetery in Martin. Birth and education He was born in ...

. He was also a member of the "Union of German Artists in Bohemia". After the establishment of Czechoslovakia, in 1920, he became the honorary chairman of a society of young painters, known as "' (The Pilgrims), many of whose members were his former students; such as , and

Maxim Kopf Maxim Kopf (born Maximilian Kopf; 18 January 1892 – 6 July 1958) was an Austrian-American painter, graphic artist and sculptor. He worked in Prague and was a prominent figure of German cultural life in Czechoslovakia in the interwar period. He w ...

. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1925.

Sources

* "Brömse, August". In: Ulrich Thieme (Ed.): ''Allgemeines Lexikon der Bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart'', Vol.5: Brewer–Carlingen. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1911, pg.49
Online
* "Brömse, August". In: Hans Vollmer (Ed.): ''Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler des XX. Jahrhunderts'', Vol.1: A–D. E. A. Seemann, Leipzig 1953, pg.321 *

External links

*
Brief biography
@ the Egerländer Kunstgalerie Marktredwitz {{DEFAULTSORT:Bromse, August 1873 births 1925 deaths German Bohemian people Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts in Prague People from Františkovy Lázně Expatriates from Austria-Hungary in Germany Tuberculosis deaths in Czechoslovakia Czechoslovak painters 20th-century etchers Painters from Austria-Hungary