Adolf Fleischmann
Encyclopedia
Adolf Richard Fleischmann (18 March 1892 Esslingen am Neckar
- 28 January 1968 Stuttgart
) was a German abstract painter.
His late work evolved into constructivism
; he is considered a precursor of Op Art
.
After graduation he studied from 1908 at the Kunstgewerbeschule
in Stuttgart, and in 1911 moved to the Royal Academy of Arts, where he studied with Adolf Hoelzel and Robert Poetzelberger.
After a brief spell as a staff illustrator and painter in the Municipal Office of Health Care Exhibition, Stuttgart, and at the workshop on graphic art under Paul Hahn Fleischmann, in 1914 he was drafted into military service. The following year he was on the Eastern Front and so badly wounded, that he was discharged from military service.
Temporarily, he designed book covers for Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, and the JB Metzler's Verlagsbuchhandlung, both in Stuttgart.
Through the intercession of his half-sister Louise Lotte Volger, who was employed as Moulageuse at the Cantonal Hospital of Zurich, in 1917 he received a job there. Fleischmann worked until July 1928 (with interruptions) as a scientific illustrator in Zurich. Many of the products manufactured by him in plaster casts are preserved and on display at the University Hospital of Zurich.
In 1921, Fleischmann participated in the exhibition of the Munich "New Secession" (Münchner Secession). Here he was particularly inspired by Franz Marc
and other Expressionists. As a result, he drew expressionist paintings.
This was followed by work trips to Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Paris, but also in Germany (Berlin and Hamburg). In 1925, he was influenced by cubism
. In 1928, he took part in the "Juryfreien" exhibitions in Stuttgart and Berlin, and again participated in the "New Secession", Munich.
From 1933 to 1936, he spent a long time in Mallorca and Paris.
From 1936 to 1938, he traveled with Bertha Loof, through Italy and stayed mainly on Ischia.
In July 1938, his son was born Dieter Loof, who died at the age of about four years.
Since he was now producing abstract painting, he avoided a possible confrontation with the National Socialist regime by moving to France. In Paris, he joined the "Equipe
" group. In this way he met influential artists, such as Robert Delaunay
and Albert Gleizes
. There, he helped the Resistance
against the German occupiers. By the end of the war, he lived in various places in southern France, especially in Graulhet
, Tarn (department).
Several times he was interned, then in camp, "Les Milles" in Aix-en-Provence, from which he managed to escape, in October 1940.
At the end of 1944, Adolf Fleischmann returned from his hideout in southern France back in liberated Paris, where he found a completely devastated studio, with only remnants of his paintings, the work of many years. He literally, "I experienced a nervous breakdown." But with the help of his French friends, he could soon begin his artistic work again, and get involved until his emigration to the U.S. in 1952, participated in exhibitions in Paris. Under the pressure of a violent anti-German feeling, he signed in the early postwar period works with the pseudonym Richard, his middle name. In the catalog of Realitéts Nouvelles No. 1, 1947, is a picture of him. He did not use the pseudonym of Richard in the United States.
At the end of the war and in the early postwar years had a brief first Fleischmann "geometric phase" in the sense of concrete art, which he resigned but was soon in favor of less stringent designs. He joined the group at Réalités nouvelles and moved to Paris for a few years. He earned his living with designs for posters, magazine titles, wallpaper and fabrics (such as towels for Dior).
In 1948, he married Elly Abendstern, and in the same year he had his first solo exhibition in the gallery Creuze in Paris.
In 1950, Fleischmann wrote again to the geometric shape, but less in terms of concrete art, but rather in the context of serial painting. He thus became an early precursor of Op Art. At the age of nearly 60 years he had developed his own distinctive style, characterized by rhythmic grouped narrow strips that are integrated into narrow angle. In 1951 he exhibited his latest works at the Galerie Colette Allendy. He was a member of American Abstract Artists
.
Then he was offered better job opportunities in the U.S., he moved to New York in 1952. Here he lived both as a staff artist, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University
, as well as a freelance painter. Solo exhibitions and experiments with cardboard and similar materials to accompany his New York time.
In 1958, he went on visits back to Europe for almost three months, and in this period also saw the subtle change in the severity of his geometric style in favor of looser lines, stripes and figurations. As before, he remained committed to the geometry, but his images were softer.
In 1962, he became seriously ill. During 1963 and 1964, he spent 16 months in Stuttgart. In this period the "Metamorphoses" images: the individual L-forms are pulled together as blocks.
Fleischmann went back to New York in late 1964, where he suffered a severe stroke in 1965.
Because of improved medical treatment he returned to Stuttgart. There was held the 1966 Adolf Fleischmann-anniversary exhibition at the Württemberg Art Association, which made him famous overnight, and marked his breakthrough in Germany. In the next two years he created, despite a partial paralysis, twenty relief-like collages.
Fleischmann died on 28 January 1968 in Stuttgart at the after-effects of stroke, he was buried at the Ebershaldenfriedhof in Esslingen.
in Münster, and the Saarland Museum
Modern Gallery. In 2009, a restrospective was held at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
.
Esslingen am Neckar
Esslingen am Neckar is a city in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, capital of the District of Esslingen as well as the largest city in the district....
- 28 January 1968 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 ....
) was a German abstract painter.
His late work evolved into constructivism
Constructivism (art)
Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th...
; he is considered a precursor of Op Art
Op art
Op art, also known as optical art, is a style of visual art that makes use of optical illusions."Optical art is a method of painting concerning the interaction between illusion and picture plane, between understanding and seeing." Op art works are abstract, with many of the better known pieces made...
.
Life
Fleischmann was the third child of businessman, Wilhelm Adolf Fleischmann, and his wife Paulina Maria (born 18 March 1892 in Esslingen).After graduation he studied from 1908 at the Kunstgewerbeschule
Kunstgewerbeschule
A Kunstgewerbeschule was the old name for an advanced school of applied arts in German-speaking countries. The first such schools were opened in Kassel in 1867 and Berlin and Munich in 1868 with other German towns following. They are now merged into universities....
in Stuttgart, and in 1911 moved to the Royal Academy of Arts, where he studied with Adolf Hoelzel and Robert Poetzelberger.
After a brief spell as a staff illustrator and painter in the Municipal Office of Health Care Exhibition, Stuttgart, and at the workshop on graphic art under Paul Hahn Fleischmann, in 1914 he was drafted into military service. The following year he was on the Eastern Front and so badly wounded, that he was discharged from military service.
Temporarily, he designed book covers for Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, and the JB Metzler's Verlagsbuchhandlung, both in Stuttgart.
Through the intercession of his half-sister Louise Lotte Volger, who was employed as Moulageuse at the Cantonal Hospital of Zurich, in 1917 he received a job there. Fleischmann worked until July 1928 (with interruptions) as a scientific illustrator in Zurich. Many of the products manufactured by him in plaster casts are preserved and on display at the University Hospital of Zurich.
In 1921, Fleischmann participated in the exhibition of the Munich "New Secession" (Münchner Secession). Here he was particularly inspired by Franz Marc
Franz Marc
Franz Marc was a German painter and printmaker, one of the key figures of the German Expressionist movement...
and other Expressionists. As a result, he drew expressionist paintings.
This was followed by work trips to Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Paris, but also in Germany (Berlin and Hamburg). In 1925, he was influenced by cubism
Cubism
Cubism was a 20th century avant-garde art movement, pioneered by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture...
. In 1928, he took part in the "Juryfreien" exhibitions in Stuttgart and Berlin, and again participated in the "New Secession", Munich.
From 1933 to 1936, he spent a long time in Mallorca and Paris.
From 1936 to 1938, he traveled with Bertha Loof, through Italy and stayed mainly on Ischia.
In July 1938, his son was born Dieter Loof, who died at the age of about four years.
Since he was now producing abstract painting, he avoided a possible confrontation with the National Socialist regime by moving to France. In Paris, he joined the "Equipe
Équipe
Équipe may refer to:* team, in French language* L'Équipe, a French newspaper devoted to sportsEquipe may refer to:* Equipe Communications Corp., a US company that made core switches for large-scale Internet and data service providers...
" group. In this way he met influential artists, such as Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay
Robert Delaunay was a French artist who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, cofounded the Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and geometric shapes. His later works were more abstract, reminiscent of Paul Klee...
and Albert Gleizes
Albert Gleizes
Albert Gleizes , was a French painter. Born Albert Léon Gleizes and raised in Paris, he was the son of a fabric designer who ran a large industrial design workshop...
. There, he helped the Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
against the German occupiers. By the end of the war, he lived in various places in southern France, especially in Graulhet
Graulhet
Graulhet is a commune in the Tarn department in southern France.It is a centre of tanning. Leather was the main activity before industry went to China. Graulhet is crossed by the Dadou river; it is a typical village of the South of France, also called Midi....
, Tarn (department).
Several times he was interned, then in camp, "Les Milles" in Aix-en-Provence, from which he managed to escape, in October 1940.
At the end of 1944, Adolf Fleischmann returned from his hideout in southern France back in liberated Paris, where he found a completely devastated studio, with only remnants of his paintings, the work of many years. He literally, "I experienced a nervous breakdown." But with the help of his French friends, he could soon begin his artistic work again, and get involved until his emigration to the U.S. in 1952, participated in exhibitions in Paris. Under the pressure of a violent anti-German feeling, he signed in the early postwar period works with the pseudonym Richard, his middle name. In the catalog of Realitéts Nouvelles No. 1, 1947, is a picture of him. He did not use the pseudonym of Richard in the United States.
At the end of the war and in the early postwar years had a brief first Fleischmann "geometric phase" in the sense of concrete art, which he resigned but was soon in favor of less stringent designs. He joined the group at Réalités nouvelles and moved to Paris for a few years. He earned his living with designs for posters, magazine titles, wallpaper and fabrics (such as towels for Dior).
In 1948, he married Elly Abendstern, and in the same year he had his first solo exhibition in the gallery Creuze in Paris.
In 1950, Fleischmann wrote again to the geometric shape, but less in terms of concrete art, but rather in the context of serial painting. He thus became an early precursor of Op Art. At the age of nearly 60 years he had developed his own distinctive style, characterized by rhythmic grouped narrow strips that are integrated into narrow angle. In 1951 he exhibited his latest works at the Galerie Colette Allendy. He was a member of American Abstract Artists
American Abstract Artists
American Abstract Artists was formed in 1936 in New York City, to promote and foster public understanding of abstract art. American Abstract Artists exhibitions, publications, and lectures helped to establish the organization as a major forum for the exchange and discussion of ideas, and for...
.
Then he was offered better job opportunities in the U.S., he moved to New York in 1952. Here he lived both as a staff artist, at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, as well as a freelance painter. Solo exhibitions and experiments with cardboard and similar materials to accompany his New York time.
In 1958, he went on visits back to Europe for almost three months, and in this period also saw the subtle change in the severity of his geometric style in favor of looser lines, stripes and figurations. As before, he remained committed to the geometry, but his images were softer.
In 1962, he became seriously ill. During 1963 and 1964, he spent 16 months in Stuttgart. In this period the "Metamorphoses" images: the individual L-forms are pulled together as blocks.
Fleischmann went back to New York in late 1964, where he suffered a severe stroke in 1965.
Because of improved medical treatment he returned to Stuttgart. There was held the 1966 Adolf Fleischmann-anniversary exhibition at the Württemberg Art Association, which made him famous overnight, and marked his breakthrough in Germany. In the next two years he created, despite a partial paralysis, twenty relief-like collages.
Fleischmann died on 28 January 1968 in Stuttgart at the after-effects of stroke, he was buried at the Ebershaldenfriedhof in Esslingen.
Legacy
In 1973, it was the first large-Adolf Fleischmann retrospectives at the Ulmer Museum, and in 1987 at the Westfälische LandesmuseumWestphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History
The Westphalian State Museum of Art and Cultural History is an arts and cultural museum in Münster, Germany-External links:*...
in Münster, and the Saarland Museum
Saarland Museum
The Saarland Museum is an art museum in Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany. It is spread across three sites, each with a different specialism.-Museum in the Palace Church:...
Modern Gallery. In 2009, a restrospective was held at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
The Staatsgalerie Stuttgart is an art gallery and art museum in Stuttgart, Germany, opened in 1843. In 1984 the opening of the Neue Staatsgalerie designed by James Stirling transformed the once provincial gallery into one of Europe's leading museums.-Alte Staatsgalerie:Originally, the classicist...
.
Sources
- Georg W. Költzsch (ed) Adolf Fleischmann, Katalog zur Retrospektive, Moderne Galerie des Saarland-Museums, Saarbrücken 1987, ISBN 3925303375
- Renate Deniz (ed) Vater gesucht - Maler gefunden..... Adolf R. Fleischmann, 2009, ISBN 9783000284403
External links
- Official website
- "Adolf Fleischmann exhibition catalogues and announcements, 1955-1975". SIRIS
- Adolf Fleischmann exhibition catalogues and announcements, 1955-1975
- http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/lot_details.aspx?intObjectID=2977155