Carl Grossberg, originally Georg Carl Wilhelm Grandmontagne (6 September 1894 – 19 October 1940) was a German painter associated with the

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, wh ...

movement; best known for his urban and industrial scenes.

Biography

He received his primary education in

Lennep Remscheid () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is, after Wuppertal and Solingen, the third-largest municipality in Bergisches Land, being located on the northern edge of the region, on the south side of the Ruhr area. Remscheid h ...

and

Elberfeld Elberfeld is a municipal subdivision of the German city of Wuppertal; it was an independent town until 1929. History The first official mentioning of the geographic area on the banks of today's Wupper River as "''elverfelde''" was in a doc ...

. After 1913, he studied architecture in Aachen and Darmstadt. During that time, his father changed the family name from Grandmontagne to Grossberg; much to Carl's displeasure. He was drafted in 1915 and sent to the front, where he was wounded. After being mustered out in 1918, he returned to Elberfeld. In 1919, he resumed his studies; first with

Walther Klemm Walther Klemm (June 18, 1883 – August 11, 1957) was a German painter, printmaker, and illustrator. He was born in Karlsbad and studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the University of Vienna. In 1904 he exhibited with t ...

at the "Hochschule für Bildende Künste" in Weimar then, in 1921, with

Lyonel Feininger Lyonel Charles Feininger (July 17, 1871January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. He was born and grew up in New York City, traveling to Germa ...

at the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

. Upon completing his studies, he moved to

Sommerhausen Sommerhausen is a municipality and market town in the district of Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany. History Sommerhausen has been an important municipality on the Main Main may refer to: Geography * Main River (disambiguation) **Most commonly t ...

, near

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg ...

, where he was married in 1923 to Mathilde Schwarz. Three years later, he had his first solo exhibition in Stuttgart, followed by another at the Galerie Nierendorf in Berlin and several others in Cologne and Düsseldorf. His most successful showing came in 1929 at the "Neue Sachlichkeit" exhibition in the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Two years later, the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and late ...

awarded him its "Rompreis". After 1933, he began work on an ambitious series of paintings he called the "Industrial Plan", depicting Germany's most important industries, but it was never completed. The following year, he received a commission for a monumental wall painting, to be displayed at an exhibition called "German People-German Work". A major retrospective was held at the

Museum Folkwang Museum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th- and 20th-century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patr ...

in 1935. In August 1939, he was drafted again and sent as an officer to the Polish front. While on leave in France, he was involved in automobile accident in the

Compiègne Compiègne (; pcd, Compiène) is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. It is located on the river Oise. Its inhabitants are called ''Compiégnois''. Administration Compiègne is the seat of two cantons: * Compiègne-1 (with 19 ...

. His official death is listed as October 19, 1940. While most biographers list Grossberg as dying from the automobile accident, some historians believe that he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Selected paintings

Carl Grossberg Creglingen 1926.jpg,

Creglingen Creglingen is a town in the Main-Tauber district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It has around 4,700 inhabitants. Geography Subdivision The town Creglingen contains the following ''districts'' (since the municipal reform of 1972): Archshofen, Bl ...

, 1926 Carl Grossberg Traumbild Dampfkessel mit Fledermaus 1928.jpg, Steam Boiler with Bat, 1928 Carl Grossberg Komposition mit Turbine 1929.jpg, Composition with Turbine, 1929 Carl Grossberg Car Factory 1936.jpg, Automobile fabrication, 1936

References

* Michalski, Sergiusz (1994). ''New Objectivity''. Cologne:

Taschen Taschen is a luxury art book publisher founded in 1980 by Benedikt Taschen in Cologne, Germany. As of January 2017, Taschen is co-managed by Benedikt and his eldest daughter, Marlene Taschen. History The company began as Taschen Comics, ...

. * Schmied, Wieland (1978). ''Neue Sachlichkeit and German Realism of the Twenties''. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. * Ingo F. Walher (red.) ''Kunst in de 20e eeuw. Deel II. Bijlage: Biografieën''. Taschen, Cologne 2005

External links

ArtNet: More works by Grossberg.
@ Weimar Art (blog)
Harvard Art Museum Archives: Dietlinde Hamburger Collection of Carl Grossberg Papers
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grossberg, Carl 1894 births 1940 deaths Bauhaus alumni People from Elberfeld 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters Road incident deaths in France People from the Rhine Province Artists from Wuppertal German Army personnel of World War I German Army officers of World War II