Heinrich Knirr (2 September 1862 – 26 May 1944) was an Austrian Empire-born German painter, known for his

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

scenes and portraits, although he also did landscapes and still-lifes. He is best known for creating the official portrait of

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

for 1937 and is the only artist known to have painted Hitler in person.Heinrich Knirr's portraits of Hitler
@ Bauman Conservation.

Biography

He was born in Pantschowa (in modern-day

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

). He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, with Christian Griepenkerl and Carl Wurzinger, then attended the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, where he took lessons from Gabriel von Hackl and Ludwig Löfftz.Brief biography
@ AGSÖ, University of Graz In 1888 he founded a private painting school in Munich, which was very popular throughout Europe. He remained in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and opened a private art school there in 1888. Eventually, his school gained a good reputation throughout Europe. From 1898 to 1910, he also taught at the Munich Academy. He was also a member of the Munich Secession and, later, the Vienna Secession. At the beginning of World War I, he gave up his teaching activities and moved to Starnberg. In the 1920s, the Thannhauser family became his major patrons. After 1922, he lived in Upper Bavaria. During the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

régime, he remained popular and, in 1937, was represented at the first Große Deutsche Kunstausstellung at the Haus der Kunst in Munich, with one of his portraits of Adolf Hitler. Over the next few years, he exhibited fourteen works there altogether, including portraits of Hitler's private chauffeur, Julius Schreck, and his mother Klara. Both paintings were hung in Hitler's office at the Berghof in

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps. South of the town, the Be ...

. He also did the official portrait of

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician, Nuremberg trials, convicted war criminal and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer ( ...

, and Albert Speer often referred to him as the " court painter". In 1942, Knirr was awarded the Goethe-Medaille für Kunst und Wissenschaft. In 1944 he died in Staudach-Egerndach.

Notable students

* Hugo Baar * Erma Bossi * Paula Deppe * * Otto Illies * Eugen von Kahler *

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

* Rudolf Levy * Vadym Meller * * Ernst Morgenthaler * Otto Nückel * Ernst Oppler * Emil Orlík * Wolf Röhricht * Milena Pavlović-Barili * Walter Schnackenberg * Wilhelm Scholkmann * * Hermann Stenner *

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knirr, Heinrich German portrait painters 1862 births 1944 deaths Members of the Vienna Secession Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni People from Pančevo 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Germany Painters from Austria-Hungary