Eduard Von Grützner
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Eduard Theodor Ritter von Grützner (May 26, 1846 – April 2, 1925) was a German painter and professor of art. He was especially noted for his
genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre) is the painting of genre art, which depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity ca ...
s of monks. He also repeatedly depicted
Falstaff Sir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare and is eulogised in a fourth. His significance as a fully developed character is primarily formed in the plays ''Henry IV, Part 1'' and '' Part 2'', w ...
.


Childhood

Grützner was born in 1846 into a noble family in Groß-Karlowitz near
Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (; ; ; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.
,
Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( ; ; ; ; Silesian German: ; ) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. The area is predominantly known for its heav ...
,
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
(now
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
). His father was a prominent member of the church, and the local pastor often visited his parents' home. The pastor recognized Eduard's talent and inclination for painting early on. The manager of a ducal country house in the neighborhood got him drawing paper, and eventually the pastor gained him entrance to the ''Gymnasium'' (a
university preparatory school A college-preparatory school (often shortened to prep school, preparatory school, college prep school or college prep academy) is a type of secondary school. The term refers to public, private independent or parochial schools primarily design ...
) of Neisse.


Studies

In 1864, the pastor brought Grützner to the private school of
Hermann Dyck Hermann Dyck (4 October 1812 – 25 March 1874), a Bavarian painter, born at Würzburg in the Grand Duchy of Würzburg in 1812, studied architectural and genre painting at Munich. His works are original and of great humour, and are neatly and car ...
in
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 ...
for art education, at first in the vocational
Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...
under Dyck, soon transferring to the Classical Art class of Johann Georg Hiltensperger and Alexander Ströhuber, where the students learned about the aesthetic ideals of antiquity. In 1865, Grützner joined the painting class of
Hermann Anschütz Hermann Anschütz (12 October 1802 – 30 August 1880) was a German painter and professor at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Anschütz was born in Koblenz. His father Jos ...
at the
Munich Academy The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...
. Meanwhile, he also sought advice and inspiration from
Carl Theodor von Piloty Karl Theodor von Piloty (1 October 1826 – 21 July 1886) was a German painter, noted for his historical subjects, and recognised as the foremost representative of the realistic school in Germany. Life and work Piloty was born in Munich. His fath ...
, whose class he joined in 1867. Piloty's class included aspiring artists from Hungary, Greece, Germany, Russia, and Poland. After three years under Piloty, Grützner left the academy.


Career

In 1870, Grützner moved into his own studio in the garden house of Schwanthalerstraße 18 in Munich. He quickly began to produce many paintings, and soon became very successful. It was reported by artist and writer Friedrich Pecht in the journal ''Die Kunst für Alle'' (Art for All) in 1886: "the painters Eduard Grützner and Ludwig Willroider were granted the title of 'professor' by
Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria Luitpold Karl Joseph Wilhelm Ludwig, Prince Regent of Bavaria (12 March 1821 – 12 December 1912), was the ''de facto'' ruler of Kingdom of Bavaria, Bavaria from 1886 to 1912, as regent for his nephews, Ludwig II of Bavaria, King Ludwig II and O ...
". In 1880, he was awarded the Order of Merit of St. Michael (
Knight's Cross Knight's Cross (German language ''Ritterkreuz'') refers to a distinguishing grade or level of various orders that often denotes bravery and leadership on the battlefield. Most frequently the term Knight's Cross is used to refer to the Knight's Cro ...
) first class. He was knighted in 1916.


Art collector

Grützner was an avid collector of art. Early on, he favored pieces from the German late Gothic and early Renaissance. In the last decade of his life, he turned from the late Middle Ages and collected art from the Far East. In his major compositions, however, he almost always included old pieces, mostly from his antique collection.


Family

In 1874, Grützner married Barbara Link. Two years later, they had a daughter named Barbara. In 1884, after ten years of marriage, his first wife died. In 1888, he became engaged to Anna Grützner Wirthmann, the daughter of a Munich garrison commander, and a short time later their son Karl Eduard was born. This second marriage was less harmonious and eventually his wife, who was seventeen years younger, left him for a
Viennese Viennese may refer to: * Vienna, the capital of Austria * Viennese people, List of people from Vienna * Viennese German, the German dialect spoken in Vienna * Viennese classicism * Viennese coffee house, an eating establishment and part of Viennese ...
singer. In his old age he sought solace in Chinese philosophy, and began to collect items from the far east and learn
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
. Occasionally he included a Buddha figure or a Chinese vase in some of his paintings. He also painted a number of ascetic-looking
cardinals Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
, often with harsh and unsympathetic features. He died on April 2, 1925, in Munich.


Legacy

Grützner was, along with
Carl Spitzweg Carl Spitzweg (February 5, 1808 – September 23, 1885) was a German romantic painter, especially of genre subjects. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Biedermeier era. Life and career Spitzweg was born in Mun ...
and
Franz von Defregger Franz Defregger (after 1883 Franz von Defregger) (30 April 1835 – 2 January 1921) was an Austrian artist known for producing genre art and history paintings set in his native county of Tyrol. Biography Franz Defregger was born on 30 April 183 ...
, one of Munich's leading genre painters in the second half of the 19th century. Grützner's paintings are best known for their combination of detailed
academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...
rendering with humorous and anecdotal subject matter. Grützner was one of
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
's favorite painters.
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
quoted Hitler as saying that Grützner was "greatly underrated... Believe me, this Grützner will someday be worth as much as a
Rembrandt Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
. Rembrandt himself couldn't have painted that better."
Albert Speer Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
, ''
Inside the third reich ''Inside the Third Reich'' (, "Memories") is a memoir written by Albert Speer, the Nazi Minister of Armaments from 1942 to 1945, serving as Adolf Hitler's main architect before this period. It is considered to be one of the most detailed descrip ...
'', p.44


See also

*
List of German painters This is a list of German painters. A > second column was into info box --> * Hans von Aachen (1552–1615) * Aatifi (born 1965) * Karl Abt (painter), Karl Abt (1899–1985) * Tomma Abts (born 1967) * Andreas Achenbach (1815–1910) * Oswald ...


Notes


References


Further reading

* Hector Feliciano, ''Le musée disparu'', Gallimard, 2008 (French edition) p. 34.


External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grutzner, Eduard Von 1846 births 1925 deaths 19th-century German painters German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists Artists from the Province of Silesia Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni Munich School 19th-century German male artists