Robert Hermann Sterl (23 June 1867 – 10 January 1932) was a German painter and graphic artist.

Life

Sterl was born in Großdobritz, now part of

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

, the son of a

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. It is one of the oldest activities and professions in human history. Many of the long-lasting, ancient shelters, temples, ...

. From 1881 to 1888, he attended the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the produc ...

, where he studied under

Leon Pohle Friedrich Leon Pohle (1 December 1841, Leipzig – 27 February 1908, Dresden) was a German painter. He is mostly known for his portraits. Life and work Pohle began attending the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts when he was only fifteen years old. In ...

and Julius Scholtz, later becoming a master student of

Ferdinand Pauwels Wilhelm Ferdinand Pauwels ( �pʌu̯əls 13 April 1830, Ekeren – 26 March 1904, Dresden) was a Belgian history painter who lived and worked in Germany. Life From 1842 to 1850, he studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (Antwerp), under Gu ...

. A stay at the artists' colony in Goppeln near

Bannewitz Bannewitz is a municipality in the Sächsische Schweiz-Osterzgebirge district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated south of Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the ...

introduced him to

impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passa ...

and

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or ''plein air'' painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting ...

painting.Robert Sterl biography
@ Stadtwiki Dresden After leaving Pauwels' studio, he worked as a landscape painter and portraitist and, until 1904, operated a private painting school for women. In 1893, he became one of the founding members of the

Dresden Secession The Dresdner Sezession (Dresden Secession) was an art group aligned with German Expressionism founded by Otto Schubert, Conrad Felixmüller and his pupil Otto Dix in Dresden, during a period of political and social turmoil in the aftermath of Wo ...

. He was appointed a Professor at the Academy in 1906, where he taught until 1931, and became an associate member of the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artists "seceded," demonstrating ag ...

in 1909. From 1913 to 1930, he was a member of the Dresdner Galeriekommission and, from 1920, had a seat on the Gallery Advisory Board, both of which positions enabled him to help young artists. When Gotthardt Kuehl died in 1915, Sterl took over his Master Class. During World War I, he worked as a war painter, on the

Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to: Military frontiers * Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany *Western Front (Russian Empire), a maj ...

in 1915 and the southern front in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form pa ...

in 1917. After the war, he bought a house in Struppen and built a spacious studio there.

Work and legacy

In addition to the usual impressionist subject matter, he painted musicians and workers, especially quarrymen. He was sympathetic to liberal causes, producing many socially conscious works; some of which are set in Russia, where he had travelled briefly before the war. Two of his paintings were labelled "

degenerate art Degenerate art (german: Entartete Kunst was a term adopted in the 1920s by the Nazi Party in Germany to describe modern art. During the dictatorship of Adolf Hitler, German modernist art, including many works of internationally renowned artists, ...

" in 1937 and removed from the

Galerie Neue Meister The Galerie Neue Meister (, ''New Masters Gallery'') in Dresden, Germany, displays around 300 paintings from the 19th century until today, including works from Otto Dix, Edgar Degas, Vincent van Gogh and Claude Monet. The gallery also exhibits a ...

. During the GDR years, his works were praised for some of the same reasons the Nazis had condemned them. He died in Struppen after a long illness and was buried at his home, bequeathing his estate to the Academy for the purpose of discovering and promoting new artists. The "Robert and Helene Sterl Foundation" was created just before his death in 1931 and, since 1981, the home has been operated as a museum and research facility. Beginning in 1997, the Foundation and related organizations have awarded the "Robert Sterl Prize" to a master student at the Academy. The prize includes €3,000 and an exhibit at the museum.Robert-Sterl-Preis
with a list of the honorees

Selected works

File:Robert Sterl - Portrait Wastl, 1903.jpg, Portrait of Wastl (1903) File:Robert Sterl - Georg Schmorl 1921.jpg, Portrait of Christian Georg Schmorl (1921) File:Nach Robert Sterl - Bildnis Arthur Nikisch (1910).jpg, Portrait of

Arthur Nikisch Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of B ...

(1910) File:Robert Sterl - Die Steinbrecher (1911).jpg, The Quarrymen (1911) File:Robert Sterl - Elbebaggerer.jpg, Dredging the

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Re ...

(1905) File:Robert Sterl - Erntetrunk (1903).jpg, Harvest Drink (1903)

References

External links

Robert-Sterl-Haus
museum website
Drawings by Sterl
@ Deutsche Fotothek * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterl, Robert 1867 births 1932 deaths Impressionism Artists from Dresden 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists

Life

Work and legacy

Selected works

References

Further reading

External links