Friedrich Ludwig
Encyclopedia
Friedrich Ludwig was a German
expressionist painter
.
, in the Black Forest
region of Southern Germany. After attending elementary school and artistic instruction he worked from 1913 to 1917 as a decorator in Zurich
, Switzerland
. Although he identified politically as a pacifist
, he presented himself unwillingly in 1917 to the German military service.
, whose work impressed him lastingly. Motivated by this first journey, he visited Italy in 1924 a second time, though up to today no work of his from this period has been discovered. From 1922 to 1926 Ludwig completed education at the Städel school in Frankfurt. Then in 1926 he was accepted at the Académie Julian
in Paris, which is famous for their training, and discovering and promoting artists such as Cézanne, Gaugin, Emil Bernaed, Maurice Denis (one the founder of the group of artists of NABIS), Pierre Bonnard, Eduard Vuillard, Maillol and Achille Laugé. The time from 1928 to 1930, while surrounded and affected by those Parisian artists, is considered Ludwig's most creative period. In 1931, Ludwig went to look for internal peace in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria. This period in his artwork is characterized by the depiction of nature and landscapes. His first official exhibition in 1934 in Munich was forbidden by the Nazi official Adolf Wagner
, who described it as "in an un-German manner" and threatened: "If the paintings tomorrow not are off the walls, I let it depend, pour over with gasoline and set it on fire!" Despite this setback, the gallery "Neupert" in Zurich offered to Ludwig an exhibition of his work in 1935. After this successful exhibition he rejected an offer to remain in Switzerland and traveled over Bellinzona to the Adria, to Paris and over Wieslet and back to Bad Reichenhall, where he established himself in 1940. Here he painted the impressive row "The Blue Mountains". After the surrender of the Third Reich in 1945 he received permission from the Americans to be allowed to paint again without restrictions and moved to Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.
In 1965 Ludwig exhibited two of his works in Munich along with the group "Blauer Reiter". Several comprehensive and successful exhibitions follow at Munich's "Gallery Karin Hielscher", as well as several meetings with the art critic and historian Reinhard Mueller Mehlis. In 1965 he exhibited at the "Regensburger Gallery".
, and was buried in Piding beside his son.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
expressionist painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
.
Early life
Friedrich Ludwig was born the ninth of seventeen children of a farming family in WiesletWieslet
Wieslet is a village and a former municipality in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Since 1 January 2009, it is part of the municipality Kleines Wiesental....
, in the Black Forest
Black Forest
The Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
region of Southern Germany. After attending elementary school and artistic instruction he worked from 1913 to 1917 as a decorator in Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Although he identified politically as a pacifist
Pacifism
Pacifism is the opposition to war and violence. The term "pacifism" was coined by the French peace campaignerÉmile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress inGlasgow in 1901.- Definition :...
, he presented himself unwillingly in 1917 to the German military service.
Artistic career
In 1920 Ludwig affiliated himself with the "Badenweiler Circle", a group of people including Thomas Mann, Emil Bizer, Annette Kolg, Alfred Krupp among others. He traveled to Italy in 1922 and came into contact with the work of Piero della FrancescaPiero della Francesca
Piero della Francesca was a painter of the Early Renaissance. As testified by Giorgio Vasari in his Lives of the Artists, to contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca is chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting was characterized by its...
, whose work impressed him lastingly. Motivated by this first journey, he visited Italy in 1924 a second time, though up to today no work of his from this period has been discovered. From 1922 to 1926 Ludwig completed education at the Städel school in Frankfurt. Then in 1926 he was accepted at the Académie Julian
Académie Julian
The Académie Julian was an art school in Paris, France.Rodolphe Julian established the Académie Julian in 1868 at the Passage des Panoramas, as a private studio school for art students. The Académie Julian not only prepared students to the exams at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts, but offered...
in Paris, which is famous for their training, and discovering and promoting artists such as Cézanne, Gaugin, Emil Bernaed, Maurice Denis (one the founder of the group of artists of NABIS), Pierre Bonnard, Eduard Vuillard, Maillol and Achille Laugé. The time from 1928 to 1930, while surrounded and affected by those Parisian artists, is considered Ludwig's most creative period. In 1931, Ludwig went to look for internal peace in Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria. This period in his artwork is characterized by the depiction of nature and landscapes. His first official exhibition in 1934 in Munich was forbidden by the Nazi official Adolf Wagner
Adolf Wagner
Adolf Wagner was a German soldier and high-ranking Nazi Party official born in Algrange, Alsace-Lorraine.He served in World War I as an officer in the German Army...
, who described it as "in an un-German manner" and threatened: "If the paintings tomorrow not are off the walls, I let it depend, pour over with gasoline and set it on fire!" Despite this setback, the gallery "Neupert" in Zurich offered to Ludwig an exhibition of his work in 1935. After this successful exhibition he rejected an offer to remain in Switzerland and traveled over Bellinzona to the Adria, to Paris and over Wieslet and back to Bad Reichenhall, where he established himself in 1940. Here he painted the impressive row "The Blue Mountains". After the surrender of the Third Reich in 1945 he received permission from the Americans to be allowed to paint again without restrictions and moved to Berchtesgaden, Bavaria.
In 1965 Ludwig exhibited two of his works in Munich along with the group "Blauer Reiter". Several comprehensive and successful exhibitions follow at Munich's "Gallery Karin Hielscher", as well as several meetings with the art critic and historian Reinhard Mueller Mehlis. In 1965 he exhibited at the "Regensburger Gallery".
Personal life
On 27 December 1954 Ludwig married Christel Sprengel, and in 1955 his son Michael was born. His wife left him in 1959 and moved with their son to Piding, Bavaria. Some first concerns over his psychological condition were expressed by his wife in a letter to Swiss art historian Werner Mueller, in which she reported that Ludwig seemed to be occasionally confused and emotionally absent. On 31 July 1968 he was admitted to the mental hospital Gabersee in close proximity to Wasserburg, Inn. His son Michael committed suicide at the age of thirteen. Then on 22 January 1970 Friedrich Ludwig himself died in the hospital at GaberseeGabersee
Gabersee is a borough of the town Wasserburg am Inn in Bavaria in Germany. Gabersee was the site of a post World War II American sector displaced person camp. It is the birthplace of Carl Troll, and home to a psychiatric hospital, where Friedrich Ludwig died....
, and was buried in Piding beside his son.
Work
He is ranked to the "expressionists of the second generation", and/or among the "expressionists of the lost and/or forgotten generation". Later in his life, Ludwig gave his pictures to be burned, and therefore was almost forgotten in the world of art. Sigurd Marien in 1984 had approximately 2000 Ludwig pictures rediscovered. They were made accessible in 1999 to the public through the Friedrich Ludwig museum, at Ludwig's place of residence in Wieslet.About Friedrich Ludwig
- "In his pictures, intangible spirit beings can ascend. Tilting and refractions contain symbolful suggested figures, patterns, faces. Cuten shapes jutting into the picture have something transitory and unfest. His single figures are substantially more compact. Spatial width and sculptural volumes formed the cause for a multiplicity of pictures, which testify for Ludwig in the European art of the time after Cézanne beside the German expressionist the own way of the outsider: a colorist of high degrees, whose discovery is to be retrieved now" (Reinhard Mueller-Mehlis).
- "Ludwig was a spiritful and extremely mobile, genuine and inspirable artist," remembers the Zurich art historian Dr. Werner Y. Mueller: "A born painter, only in color dreams lived and like a child at the colored miracle of the things was pleased again and again."