Adolf Uzarski (April 14, 1885 – July 14, 1970) was a German writer, artist, and illustrator associated with the

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

movement. He was born in

Ruhrort Ruhrort () is a district in the borough of Homberg/Ruhrort/Baerl within the German city of Duisburg situated north of the confluence of the Ruhr (river), Ruhr and the Rhine, in the western part of the Ruhr Area, Ruhr area. Ruhrort has the largest ...

bei

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

and studied at the

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

School of Architecture before enrolling in 1906 at the

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

School of Arts and Crafts.Michalski 218 Initially, Uzarski's work was in the tradition of Art Nouveau. He exhibited in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

and

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

in the years before

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and also became a successful commercial artist. During the war, his work began displaying elements of

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. While directing the advertising department of the Tietz department store, in 1916–17 he produced the portfolio of

lithograph Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

s, ''Totentanz'' ("Danse Macabre"). Beginning in 1919 he exhibited with "Das Junge Rheinland" ( Young Rhineland), of which he was a founding member. This stylistically diverse group, which also included Arthur Kaufmann and Herbert Eulenberg, was united only by their rejection of academic art. Active as a visual artist and also as a writer of poetry and fiction, Uzarski illustrated his own books and those of others. During the Weimar years he was one of the artists championed by the Düsseldorf art dealer Johanna Ey, until a rift between them in 1923, after which Uzarski left the "Young Rhineland" group to form the "Rheingruppe" (Rhine group), with whom he exhibited from 1925 to 1930. His art was

caricatural A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

in style and sharply satirical of

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

society. In 1942, condemned as a degenerate artist by 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 ...

s, he was forbidden to paint, and went into hiding in

Robertville, Belgium Robertville ( (locally as ''Rebîveye'' or ''Rubîveye'')) is a village of Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Waimes, located in the province of Liège, Belgium. On 1 January 2005 it had 2402 inhabitants. It was a separate municip ...

. At the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Uzarski returned to Düsseldorf and continued his career. He was the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Berlin Academy of Arts in 1967. Uzarski died in Düsseldorf in 1970. A portrait of Uzarski by

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and Printmaking, printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Alon ...

is in the

Museum Kunstpalast The Kunstpalast, formerly Kunstmuseum Düsseldorf is an art museum in Düsseldorf. History The roots of the museum go back around 300 years. In 1932, the collection of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf (Academy of Art) was housed in the Kunstmus ...

.''Bildnis des Adolf Uzarski'', 1923 von Otto Dix
in

Books written by Uzarski

*''Möppi'',

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 ...

, 1921 *''Die spanische Reise'', Munich, 1921 *''Chamäleon. Ein Heldenbuch.'', Munich, 1922 *''Die Reise nach Deutschland.'',

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

, 1924 *''Tun-Kwang-pipi'', Potsdam, 1924 *''Herr Knobloch'', Munich, 1926 *''Kurukallawalla'', Munich, 1927 *''Der Fall Uzarski'', Munich, 1928 *''Das Hotel Zum Paradies'', Munich, 1929 *''Beinahe Weltmeister'', Munich, 1930 *''Panoptikum'', Berlin, 1955 *''Lager-Schaden'', Berlin, 1985

Notes

References

*Michalski, Sergiusz (1994). ''New Objectivity''. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen. 1885 births 1970 deaths German artists Artists from the Rhine Province Writers from the Rhine Province German male writers {{Germany-artist-stub