Carl Hagemann (April 9, 1867, in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

– November 20, 1940, in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

) was a German chemist, industrial manager and one of the most important German art collectors and patrons in the first half of the 20th century.

Life

Hagemann grew up in a middle-class family in Essen, where he attended the humanist Gymnasium am Burgplatz. He studied philosophy and chemistry from 1886 to 1890 in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

and

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

, and obtained a Ph.D. from the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

Johannes Wislicenus Johannes Wislicenus (; 24 June 18355 December 1902) was a German chemist, most famous for his work in early stereochemistry. Biography The son of the radical Protestant theologian Gustav Wislicenus, Johannes was born on 24 June 1835 in Kleine ...

's team. Hagemann's ester, or ethyl-2-methyl-4-oxo-2-cyclohexenecarboxylate, is an organic compound that was first prepared and described by Hagemann in 1893. In 1894, he joined the

Bayer Bayer AG (English: , commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies and biomedical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer' ...

color factories and made a career there. In 1920 he became technical director of the Cassella Farbwerke Mainkur Aktiengesellschaft in Frankfurt. Following their incorporation into the newly formed

IG Farben I. G. Farbenindustrie AG, commonly known as IG Farben, was a German Chemical industry, chemical and Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was formed on December 2, 1925 from a merger of six chemical co ...

in 1925, he became a member of the board. By the age of 65, he retired in 1932. He also wrote a book called ''Spiele der Voelker'' (Schuster und Loeffler, 1921); in this book he shows examples of dance and play in Japan, Africa, India and China. Around the turn of the century, Hagemann started to collect art. His first collection objects were from popular graphics artists. In the second decade of the 20th century, first under the influence of his friend Ernst Gosebruch, the director of the Essen Museum of Art, Hagemann turned toward painters of ''

Die Brücke Die Brücke (The Bridge), also known as Künstlergruppe Brücke or KG Brücke, was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. The founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Karl Schmidt-R ...

'' and

Emil Nolde Emil Nolde (born Hans Emil Hansen; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German painter and printmaker. He was one of the first Expressionists, a member of Die Brücke, and was one of the first oil painting and watercolor painters of the early ...

. He was a friend of

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist Painting, painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expr ...

until his death in 1938. In the course of four decades, Hagemann put together a very personal collection of paintings, prints and sculptures. A significant highlight of the pictures was Kirchner's "Berlin Street Scene" (

Neue Galerie New York The Neue Galerie New York ( German for "New Gallery") is a museum of early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design located in the William Starr Miller House at 86th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. Established in 2001, ...

). After his accidental death in 1940, he left a collection of about 1,900 art objects, including nearly a hundred paintings by

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Karl Schmidt until 1905; 1 December 1884 – 10 August 1976) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker; he was one of the four founders of the artist group Die Brücke. Life and work Schmidt-Rottluff was born in R ...

Erich Heckel Erich Heckel (31 July 1883 – 27 January 1970) was a German people, German Painting, painter and printmaker, and a founding member of the group ''Die Brücke'' ("The Bridge") which existed 1905–1913. His work was part of the art competition ...

Otto Mueller Otto Melller (16 October 1874 – 24 September 1930) was a German painter and printmaker of the Die Brücke expressionist movement. Life and work Mueller was born in Liebau (now Lubawka, Kamienna Góra County), Kreis Landeshut, Silesia. ...

and others. Since it was considered degenerate art during the time of the Nazi regime, Ernst Holzinger, then director of the

Städel Museum The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The museum is located at the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen (Frankfurt ...

in Frankfurt, took a high personal risk, as he hid the entire collection in the Städel. In this way, the collection survived the war largely unscathed. Today, pictures from Hagemann's collection are found in museums around the world, and some of them are privately owned. The graphics and drawings were received as a gift by the

Städel The Städel, officially the ''Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie'', is an art museum in Frankfurt, with one of the most important collections in Germany. The museum is located at the Museumsufer on the Sachsenhausen bank of t ...

References

External links

Literature by and about Carl Hagemann in the catalog of the German National Library
(German) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hagermann, Carl Hagemann, Carlc Hagemann, Carl Hagemann, Carl Hagemann, Carl Cassella people Businesspeople from Essen German art collectors 20th-century art collectors 20th-century German chemists

Life

See also

References

External links