Josef Madlener (1881–1967) was a German artist, illustrator, and writer. He was born near in Amendingen (part of

Memmingen Memmingen (; Swabian: ''Memmenge'') is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is the economic, educational and administrative centre of the Danube-Iller region. To the west the town is flanked by the Iller, the river that marks the Baden-W� ...

). His work was published in various newspapers, magazines, and a few children's Christmas books, e. g. ''Das Christkind Kommt'' (1929) and ''Das Buch vom Christkind'' (1938). Madlener's Christmas art also appeared in several

postcard A postcard or post card is a piece of thick paper or thin cardboard, typically rectangular, intended for writing and mailing without an envelope. Non-rectangular shapes may also be used but are rare. There are novelty exceptions, such as wood ...

series. The monograph by Eduard Raps (1981) published for the artist's centenary, shows a sampling of Madlener's art. The most famous of Madlener's paintings is ''Der Berggeist'' ("the mountain spirit"), from similarities in style dated to the period around 1925–30. The painting is reproduced on a

that was in the possession of

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

, marked "the origin of

Gandalf Gandalf is a protagonist in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels '' The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. He is a wizard, one of the ''Istari'' order, and the leader of the Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Nor ...

". Zimmermann (1983:22) interviewed Madlener's daughter Julie (born 1910), who distinctly remembered her father painting ''Der Berggeist'' sometime after 1925/6. She also noted that the postcard version was "published in the late twenties by Ackermann Verlag München, in a folder with three or four similar pictures with motifs drawn from German mythology: a fairy lady of the woods, a deer carrying a shining cross between its antlers, '

Rübezahl Rübezahl ( pl, Liczyrzepa, Duch Gór, Karkonosz, Rzepiór, or Rzepolicz; cs, Krakonoš) is a folkloric mountain spirit ( woodwose) of the Giant Mountains (''Krkonoše'', ''Riesengebirge'', ''Karkonosze''), a mountain range along the border bet ...

', and possibly one more". The whereabouts of the original was unknown for some sixty years, until it was auctioned on

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, an ...

in July, 2005, and sold for 84,000

GBP Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...

. The previous owner had met Madlener twice and described Madlener as being tall, about 185 cm. He recalled that Madlener liked to bake and, on his second visit in 1946 or 1947 served his own bread and much coffee. Having seen ''Der Berggeist'' on his previous visit, the visitor told the artist how much he loved it, and Madlener promptly told his guest to give it a good home.

Publications

*''Das Christkind kommt'' (1929) *''Das Buch vom Christkind'' (1938).

Literature

*Eduard Raps ''Josef Madlener 1881 bis 1967'', Memmingen, 1981. *Manfred Zimmermann, ''The Origin of Gandalf and Josef Madlener'',

Mythlore ''Mythlore'' is a biannual (originally quarterly) peer-reviewed academic journal founded by Glen GoodKnight and published by the Mythopoeic Society. Although it publishes articles that explore the genres of myth and fantasy in general, special a ...

34, 1983. *Hans-Wolfgang Bayer and Johannes Hoyer, "Der Nachlaß des Memminger Künstlers Josef Madlener" in: ''Schönere Heimat'' 87 (1998), 66–70.

References

External links

Foto and info (German) http://www.memmingen.de/76.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Madlener, Josef 1881 births 1967 deaths 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters German illustrators Postcard artists People from Memmingen