John Anthony Thwaites
Encyclopedia
John Anthony Thwaites was a British art critic
and author, who lived and worked in West Germany
from 1946.
and Cambridge
. From 1931 he was a member of the British Foreign Service, and worked until 1943 as a British vice-consul in Hamburg
, New York
, Chicago
, Katowice
, León
(Mexico
) and Panama
. In 1946 he was posted from London to the British Consulate in Munich
.
Thwaites worked as an art critic from 1933 onwards. He also started collecting works by modern masters such as Paul Klee
, Kandinsky and Henry Moore
. This came to a premature end in 1939 when he had to abandon his entire collection in his then apartment in Katowice
due to the German invasion of Poland.
In 1949 he left the Foreign Service and devoted himself to establishing modern art in West Germany, lecturing, writing for a number of newspapers and giving slideshows. He cofounded with the painter Rupprecht Geiger
the group Zen 49
. As German correspondent of Art and Artists (London), of Art News and Pictures on Exhibit (New York), among others, he worked to restore German art to the international standing he felt it deserved. Living in Düsseldorf
from 1955 he supported the artists of Gruppe 53 and ZERO. In the seventies he worked as a lecturer at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
and did radio broadcasts for Westdeutscher Rundfunk
.
, who was not an artist in his opinion, but a demagogue and seducer whom he eventually compared with Hitler.
As a critic Thwaites was a moralist. In 1961 he wrote in the German paper Deutsche Zeitung (Stuttgart/Köln):
Art critic
An art critic is a person who specializes in evaluating art. Their written critiques, or reviews, are published in newspapers, magazines, books and on web sites...
and author, who lived and worked in West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
from 1946.
Biography
Thwaites studied history at the universities of LausanneLausanne
Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
and Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. From 1931 he was a member of the British Foreign Service, and worked until 1943 as a British vice-consul in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
, León
León, Guanajuato
The city of León, formally León de los Aldama is the sixth most populous city in Mexico and the first in the state of Guanajuato. It is also the seat of the municipality of León...
(Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) and Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
. In 1946 he was posted from London to the British Consulate in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
.
Thwaites worked as an art critic from 1933 onwards. He also started collecting works by modern masters such as Paul Klee
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was born in Münchenbuchsee, Switzerland, and is considered both a German and a Swiss painter. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. He was, as well, a student of orientalism...
, Kandinsky and Henry Moore
Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore OM CH FBA was an English sculptor and artist. He was best known for his semi-abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art....
. This came to a premature end in 1939 when he had to abandon his entire collection in his then apartment in Katowice
Katowice
Katowice is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, on the Kłodnica and Rawa rivers . Katowice is located in the Silesian Highlands, about north of the Silesian Beskids and about southeast of the Sudetes Mountains.It is the central district of the Upper Silesian Metropolis, with a population of 2...
due to the German invasion of Poland.
In 1949 he left the Foreign Service and devoted himself to establishing modern art in West Germany, lecturing, writing for a number of newspapers and giving slideshows. He cofounded with the painter Rupprecht Geiger
Rupprecht Geiger
Rupprecht Geiger was an abstract painter and sculptor from Munich, Germany. He is perhaps best known for his color field paintings and for his passion for the color red.- Life and work :...
the group Zen 49
Zen 49
Zen 49 was a group of German artists, who came together in Munich in July 1949. Originally the Gruppe der Ungegenständlichen, they took the name Zen 49 the following year....
. As German correspondent of Art and Artists (London), of Art News and Pictures on Exhibit (New York), among others, he worked to restore German art to the international standing he felt it deserved. Living in 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...
from 1955 he supported the artists of Gruppe 53 and ZERO. In the seventies he worked as a lecturer at the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
Kunstakademie Düsseldorf
The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, formerly Staatliche Kunstakademie Düsseldorf, is the Arts Academy of the city of Düsseldorf. It is well known for having produced many famous artists, such as Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Sigmar Polke, Thomas Demand, and Andreas Gursky...
and did radio broadcasts for Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
.
Work
Thwaites viewed art as a mirror revealing the human experience of any epoch. According to him true artists are those who truthfully and originally interpret that reality, in contrast with "shameless epigones" whom he believed to be just chasing after success by following trends. His bête noire was Joseph BeuysJoseph Beuys
Joseph Beuys was a German performance artist, sculptor, installation artist, graphic artist, art theorist and pedagogue of art.His extensive work is grounded in concepts of humanism, social philosophy and anthroposophy; it culminates in his "extended definition of art" and the idea of social...
, who was not an artist in his opinion, but a demagogue and seducer whom he eventually compared with Hitler.
As a critic Thwaites was a moralist. In 1961 he wrote in the German paper Deutsche Zeitung (Stuttgart/Köln):
-
- A critic must be capable of rubbishing his personal friends and praise artists he personally dislikes. He should, if need be, harm himself. He must never write for personal advantage. Power and position are corrupting even as money. When critics protect each other and each other's protégés they create an intellectual corruption that will strangle art.
Books
- Ich hasse die Moderne Kunst. ("I Hate Modern Art") Ullstein, Frankfurt 1960.
- Norbert KrickeNorbert KrickeNorbert Kricke was a German sculptor.Born in Düsseldorf, Kricke was a student of Richard Scheibe and Hans Uhlmann at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Berlin. He started creating abstract sculptures from 1947, using wires and other materials associated with industry, such as steel, glass and...
. Thames and Hudson, London 1964. - Der doppelte Maßstab. ("The Double Gauge") Seide, Frankfurt 1967.
- Hans Kaiser, Cologne 1979.