Max Ackermann
Encyclopedia
Max Ackermann was a German painter
and graphic artist of abstract works
and representational art
.
on 5 October 1887, Ackermann started carving wooden figures and modelling ornaments in his father's studio at an early age. From 1905 to 1907 he studied under Henry van de Velde
at his studio in Weimar
and at Gotthardt Kuehl's studio in Dresden
(1908–09). From 1909 to 1910, he furthered his studies in Franz von Stuck's class at the Munich Art Academy. In 1912, aged 25, he attended the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart
, where he worked as an apprentice of Adolf Hölzel
, who "introduced Ackermann to non-representational painting and turned out to have a formative influence on his future works", and he began to paint abstractly.
Ackermann joined the Landsturm
in the First World War, where he was wounded and discharged following a lengthy period in hospital, after which from 1918 to 1919 he was a member of Der Blaue Reiter
, ('the Blue Rider'). In 1921 the artist met pioneer of abstract dance Rudolf von Laban, "with whom he entered into a vivid discussion about dance notation and counterpoint, inspiring Ackermann to rhythmic blind paintings". Throughout the 1920s he worked as an artist in Stuttgart, where his first one-man show was held in 1924, featuring figurative and abstract paintings, pastels and drawings at the Württembergische art association. In 1926 he spent time in Paris
where he became friends with Piet Mondrian
and Adolf Loos
. Around this time, Wassily Kandinsky
"confirmed and encouraged him in his quest for the absolute painting". In 1928 he shared a collective show at Stuttgart's Schaller Gallery with Kandinsky and George Grosz
.
He set up a Lehrwerkstätte für Neue Kunst ('Training workshop for New Art') in his studio and hosted holiday seminars for young art teachers. In 1930 Ackermann introduced a seminar on 'absolute painting' at the Stuttgart Volkshochschule. Based on these seminar topics, in 1933 he gave lectures at a Hölzel exhibition in Stuttgart's Valentien gallery. Ackermann was considered degenerate
by the new Nazi authorities, and in 1933 he was forbidden from exhibiting by decree, and in 1936, again by decree, he was forbidden from teaching. He also suffered the official confiscation of graphics and paintings displayed in the Württembergische state gallery in Stuttgart. After being banned from teaching, Ackermann continued his abstract work at Hornstaad on Lake Constance
, which became an artists' colony joined by Otto Dix
, Erich Heckel
and Helmuth Macke.
Many of his early works were lost when his studio was destroyed in a Second World War air raid. After the war, a 1946 one-man show in Stuttgart was followed by other solo shows in West German cities and collective shows at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in Paris and the 1949 Zurich
exhibition Kunst in Deutschland 1930-49. With Wolfgang Fortner
, Ackermann held a seminar on music and painting in 1952. A year later, he took part in an event with Hugo Häring
and Kurt Leonhart on the subject of painting and architecture. In 1956, as successor to Willi Baumeister
, who had died, the Künstlerbund Baden-Württemberg artists' association appointed Ackermann to the Rat der Zehn ('Council of Ten'). The state of Baden-Württemberg
awarded Ackermann the honorary title of Professor in 1957, and in 1964 he was honoured by the West German Academy. To mark his 80th birthday in 1967, one-man shows were held at the Mittelrhein Museum in Koblenz
and other galleries in Kaiserslautern
, Friedrichshafen
and Lake Constance. A 1967 retrospective exhibition took his work from 1908 on to Koblenz, Kaiserslautern
, Constance
, Wolfsburg
and Cologne
, and the University of Chicago
in 1969.
Twice married, to Gertrude Ostermayer from 1936 to 1957 and to Johanna Strathomeyer in 1974, Ackermann died in Unterlengenhardt, Bad Liebenzell
in the Black Forest
on 14 November 1975, aged 88.
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...
and graphic artist of abstract works
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
and representational art
Representation (arts)
Representation is the use of signs that stand in for and take the place of something else. It is through representation that people organize the world and reality through the act of naming its elements...
.
Life and work
Born in BerlinBerlin
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...
on 5 October 1887, Ackermann started carving wooden figures and modelling ornaments in his father's studio at an early age. From 1905 to 1907 he studied under Henry van de Velde
Henry van de Velde
Henry Clemens Van de Velde was a Belgian Flemish painter, architect and interior designer. Together with Victor Horta and Paul Hankar he could be considered one of the main founders and representatives of Art Nouveau in Belgium...
at his studio 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...
and at Gotthardt Kuehl's studio in Dresden
Dresden
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....
(1908–09). From 1909 to 1910, he furthered his studies in Franz von Stuck's class at the Munich Art Academy. In 1912, aged 25, he attended the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, where he worked as an apprentice of Adolf Hölzel
Adolf Hölzel
Adolf Hölzel was a German artist/painter. His style developed from Impressionism to expressive modernism.- Biography :...
, who "introduced Ackermann to non-representational painting and turned out to have a formative influence on his future works", and he began to paint abstractly.
Ackermann joined the Landsturm
Landsturm
German-speaking countries used the word Landsturm to refer to third-class infantry or militias.- 1813 :King Frederick William III of Prussia established the Prussian Landsturm as irregular military forces on 21 April 1813 by royal edict – the decree appeared in the preussische Gesetzesammlung...
in the First World War, where he was wounded and discharged following a lengthy period in hospital, after which from 1918 to 1919 he was a member of Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter
Der Blaue Reiter was a group of artists from the Neue Künstlervereinigung München in Munich, Germany. The group was founded by a number of Russian emigrants, including Wassily Kandinsky, Alexej von Jawlensky, Marianne von Werefkin, and native German artists, such as Franz Marc, August Macke and...
, ('the Blue Rider'). In 1921 the artist met pioneer of abstract dance Rudolf von Laban, "with whom he entered into a vivid discussion about dance notation and counterpoint, inspiring Ackermann to rhythmic blind paintings". Throughout the 1920s he worked as an artist in Stuttgart, where his first one-man show was held in 1924, featuring figurative and abstract paintings, pastels and drawings at the Württembergische art association. In 1926 he spent time 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...
where he became friends with Piet Mondrian
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis "Piet" Mondriaan, after 1906 Mondrian , was a Dutch painter.He was an important contributor to the De Stijl art movement and group, which was founded by Theo van Doesburg. He evolved a non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism...
and Adolf Loos
Adolf Loos
Adolf Franz Karl Viktor Maria Loos was a Moravian-born Austro-Hungarian architect. He was influential in European Modern architecture, and in his essay Ornament and Crime he repudiated the florid style of the Vienna Secession, the Austrian version of Art Nouveau...
. Around this time, Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Kandinsky
Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky was an influential Russian painter and art theorist. He is credited with painting the first purely-abstract works. Born in Moscow, Kandinsky spent his childhood in Odessa. He enrolled at the University of Moscow, studying law and economics...
"confirmed and encouraged him in his quest for the absolute painting". In 1928 he shared a collective show at Stuttgart's Schaller Gallery with Kandinsky and George Grosz
George Grosz
Georg Ehrenfried Groß was a German artist known especially for his savagely caricatural drawings of Berlin life in the 1920s...
.
He set up a Lehrwerkstätte für Neue Kunst ('Training workshop for New Art') in his studio and hosted holiday seminars for young art teachers. In 1930 Ackermann introduced a seminar on 'absolute painting' at the Stuttgart Volkshochschule. Based on these seminar topics, in 1933 he gave lectures at a Hölzel exhibition in Stuttgart's Valentien gallery. Ackermann was considered degenerate
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...
by the new Nazi authorities, and in 1933 he was forbidden from exhibiting by decree, and in 1936, again by decree, he was forbidden from teaching. He also suffered the official confiscation of graphics and paintings displayed in the Württembergische state gallery in Stuttgart. After being banned from teaching, Ackermann continued his abstract work at Hornstaad on Lake Constance
Lake Constance
Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...
, which became an artists' colony joined by 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...
, Erich Heckel
Erich Heckel
Erich Heckel was a German painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the Die Brücke group which existed 1905-1913.-Biography:Heckel was born in Döbeln . His parents were born in Saxony...
and Helmuth Macke.
Many of his early works were lost when his studio was destroyed in a Second World War air raid. After the war, a 1946 one-man show in Stuttgart was followed by other solo shows in West German cities and collective shows at the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles in Paris and the 1949 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...
exhibition Kunst in Deutschland 1930-49. With Wolfgang Fortner
Wolfgang Fortner
Wolfgang Fortner was a German composer, composition teacher and conductor.-Life:Fortner was born in Leipzig. From his parents - both singers - Fortner very early on had intense contact with music...
, Ackermann held a seminar on music and painting in 1952. A year later, he took part in an event with Hugo Häring
Hugo Häring
Hugo Häring was a German architect and architectural writer best known for his writings on "organic architecture", and as a figure in architectural debates about functionalism in the 1920s and 1930s, though he had an important role as an expressionist architect.A student of the great Theodor...
and Kurt Leonhart on the subject of painting and architecture. In 1956, as successor to Willi Baumeister
Willi Baumeister
Willi Baumeister was a German painter, scenic designer, art professor, and typographer.-Life:Willi Baumeister, born in Stuttgart in 1889, completed an apprenticeship as a decorative painter in his native city from 1905 to 1907, followed by military service...
, who had died, the Künstlerbund Baden-Württemberg artists' association appointed Ackermann to the Rat der Zehn ('Council of Ten'). The state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
awarded Ackermann the honorary title of Professor in 1957, and in 1964 he was honoured by the West German Academy. To mark his 80th birthday in 1967, one-man shows were held at the Mittelrhein Museum in Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
and other galleries in Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
, Friedrichshafen
Friedrichshafen
This article is about a German town. For the Danish town, see Frederikshavn, and for the Finnish town, see Fredrikshamn .Friedrichshafen is a university city on the northern side of Lake Constance in Southern Germany, near the borders with Switzerland and Austria.It is the district capital of the...
and Lake Constance. A 1967 retrospective exhibition took his work from 1908 on to Koblenz, Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern is a city in southwest Germany, located in the Bundesland of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate forest . The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, and from Luxembourg.Kaiserslautern is home to 99,469 people...
, Constance
Constance
Constance is a female given name that derives from Latin and means "constant." Variations of the name include Connie, Constancia, Constanze, Constanza, Stanzy, and Konstanze.Constance may refer to:-People:*Constance Bennett , American actress...
, Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the River Aller northeast of Braunschweig , and is mainly notable as the headquarters of Volkswagen AG...
and Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
, and the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1969.
Twice married, to Gertrude Ostermayer from 1936 to 1957 and to Johanna Strathomeyer in 1974, Ackermann died in Unterlengenhardt, Bad Liebenzell
Bad Liebenzell
Bad Liebenzell is a spa town in the Nagold River valley, the northern part of the Black Forest. It was first mentioned in 1090 and is the heart of the Liebenzeller Mission ....
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 ....
on 14 November 1975, aged 88.
Selected works
- 1927: Deutschland, 95 × 62,3 cm
- 1930: Gegenstandslose Komposition, 155 × 111 cm
- 1931: Mädchen mit Hund
- 1932: Konkretes, 100 × 109
- c. 1945: Herabkunft der Musik, 46 x 32 cm
- 1954: Überbrückte Kontinente, 120 × 50 cm
- c. 1955: An die Freude
- 1957: Ohne Titel (Bajamar), 50 × 65 cm
- 1962: Komposition, 185 × 130 cm
- 1951: Der Feuerball, 205 × 80 cm
Publications
- Dirk Blübaum (edit.): Max Ackermann (1887-1975) - Die Suche nach dem Ganzen, Exhib. Cat., Zeppelin Museum, Friedrichshafen, 2004.
- Lutz Tittel: Max Ackermann 1887 - 1975. Zum 100. Geburtstag. Stuttgart, 1987.