Gert Heinrich Wollheim
Encyclopedia
Gert Heinrich Wollheim (11 September 1894 – 22 April 1974) was a German
painter associated with the New Objectivity
, and later an expressionist
who worked in America after 1947.
-Loschwitz
and studied at the College of Fine Arts in Weimar
from 1911 to 1913. From 1914–1917 he was in military service in World War I
, where he was wounded. After the war he lived in Berlin
until 1919, when Wollheim, Otto Pankok
(whom he had met at the academy in Weimar), Ulfert Lüken, Hermann Hundt and others created an artists' colony in Remels, (East Frisia
).
At the end of 1919 Wollheim and Pankok went to Düsseldorf
and became founding members of the "Young Rhineland" group, which also included Max Ernst
, Otto Dix
, and Ulrich Leman
. Wollheim was one of the artists associated with the art dealer Johanna Ey
, and in 1922 he was taken to court over a painting displayed at her gallery. In 1925 he moved to Berlin, and his work began a new phase of coolly objective representation.
Immediately after Hitler
's seizure of power in 1933 his works were declared degenerate art
and many were destroyed. He fled to France
and became active in the Resistance. In 1937 he was one of the joint founders of the artist federation “L´union de l'artistes libres” in Paris
, and he became the companion of the dancer Tatjana Barbakoff. Meanwhile, in Munich, three of his pictures were displayed in the defamatory Nazi exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) in 1937.
From Paris he fled to Saarbrücken
and later to Switzerland
. In 1939 he was arrested and held in a labor camp until his escape in 1942, after which he hid in the Pyrénées
. At war's end in 1945 he returned to France, and in 1947 moved to New York
and became an American citizen. He died in New York in 1974.
In 2000 the August Macke
Haus in Bonn
presented an important retrospective exhibition of his work.
Wollheim's best-known work is probably Der Verwundete, 'The Wounded Man' (1919), one of the most horrifying images to be produced by any artist who had experienced the First World War. The oil on board painting shows a half-naked soldier writhing in agony after receiving a death-wound in the belly (Wollheim himself was wounded in the stomach during the War). A version of this image was used as one of 'Dr. Lecter's drawings' in the film Silence of the Lambs.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
painter associated with the New Objectivity
New Objectivity
The New Objectivity is a term used to characterize the attitude of public life in Weimar Germany as well as the art, literature, music, and architecture created to adapt to it...
, and later an expressionist
Expressionism
Expressionism was a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas...
who worked in America after 1947.
Life and work
He was born in DresdenDresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
-Loschwitz
Loschwitz
Loschwitz is a borough of Dresden, Germany, incorporated in 1921. It consists of ten quarters :Loschwitz is a villa quarter located at the slopes north of the Elbe river...
and studied at the College of Fine Arts in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
from 1911 to 1913. From 1914–1917 he was in military service in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, where he was wounded. After the war he lived in Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
until 1919, when Wollheim, Otto Pankok
Otto Pankok
Otto Pankok was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor.-Biography:He was born in Mülheim on the Ruhr. In 1912 he began his formal training as an artist at the Art Academies in Düsseldorf and Weimar...
(whom he had met at the academy in Weimar), Ulfert Lüken, Hermann Hundt and others created an artists' colony in Remels, (East Frisia
East Frisia
East Frisia or Eastern Friesland is a coastal region in the northwest of the German federal state of Lower Saxony....
).
At the end of 1919 Wollheim and Pankok went to Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
and became founding members of the "Young Rhineland" group, which also included Max Ernst
Max Ernst
Max Ernst was a German painter, sculptor, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was one of the primary pioneers of the Dada movement and Surrealism.-Early life:...
, Otto Dix
Otto Dix
Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix was a German painter and printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of Weimar society and the brutality of war. Along with George Grosz, he is widely considered one of the most important artists of the Neue Sachlichkeit.-Early life and...
, and Ulrich Leman
Ulrich Leman
Ulrich Leman was a German painter.Born in Düsseldorf, he became interested in painting at an early age and in 1919 he co-founded the group "The Young Rheinland" with other young painters of the day, including Otto Dix and Gert Heinrich Wollheim.During the early 1920s Ulrich Leman was a...
. Wollheim was one of the artists associated with the art dealer Johanna Ey
Johanna Ey
Johanna Ey was an art dealer in Germany during the 1920s. She became known as Mutter Ey for the nurturing support she provided to her artists, who included Max Ernst and Otto Dix.-Biography:...
, and in 1922 he was taken to court over a painting displayed at her gallery. In 1925 he moved to Berlin, and his work began a new phase of coolly objective representation.
Immediately after Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
's seizure of power in 1933 his works were declared degenerate art
Degenerate art
Degenerate art is the English translation of the German entartete Kunst, a term adopted by the Nazi regime in Germany to describe virtually all modern art. Such art was banned on the grounds that it was un-German or Jewish Bolshevist in nature, and those identified as degenerate artists were...
and many were destroyed. He fled to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and became active in the Resistance. In 1937 he was one of the joint founders of the artist federation “L´union de l'artistes libres” in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and he became the companion of the dancer Tatjana Barbakoff. Meanwhile, in Munich, three of his pictures were displayed in the defamatory Nazi exhibition Entartete Kunst (Degenerate Art) in 1937.
From Paris he fled to Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
and later to 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....
. In 1939 he was arrested and held in a labor camp until his escape in 1942, after which he hid in the Pyrénées
Pyrenees
The Pyrenees is a range of mountains in southwest Europe that forms a natural border between France and Spain...
. At war's end in 1945 he returned to France, and in 1947 moved to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and became an American citizen. He died in New York in 1974.
In 2000 the August Macke
August Macke
August Macke was one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter . He lived during a particularly innovative time for German art which saw the development of the main German Expressionist movements as well as the arrival of the successive avant-garde movements which...
Haus in Bonn
Bonn
Bonn is the 19th largest city in Germany. Located in the Cologne/Bonn Region, about 25 kilometres south of Cologne on the river Rhine in the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, it was the capital of West Germany from 1949 to 1990 and the official seat of government of united Germany from 1990 to 1999....
presented an important retrospective exhibition of his work.
Wollheim's best-known work is probably Der Verwundete, 'The Wounded Man' (1919), one of the most horrifying images to be produced by any artist who had experienced the First World War. The oil on board painting shows a half-naked soldier writhing in agony after receiving a death-wound in the belly (Wollheim himself was wounded in the stomach during the War). A version of this image was used as one of 'Dr. Lecter's drawings' in the film Silence of the Lambs.