Egon Tschirch (

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

, 22 June 1889–5 February 1948) was a

German painter This is a list of German painters. A > second column was into info box --> * Hans von Aachen (1552–1615) * Aatifi (born 1965) * Karl Abt (1899–1985) * Tomma Abts (born 1967) * Andreas Achenbach (1815–1910) * Oswald Achenbach (182 ...

and illustrator. In the 1920s, he was regarded as one of the most important artists of

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

.''Egon Tschirch: Leben und Werk'' (Monograph), Kulturhistorische Gesellschaft Rostock e.V. (ed.), Rostock: Hinstorff Verlag GmbH, 2020, After the 1930s, Tschirch was viewed with skepticism due to his affiliation with

National Socialism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequ ...

and being a member of the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

. In 2015, the rediscovery of a major work of his, his ''

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

'' picture cycle, initiated discussion and re-evaluation of the artist and his work.''Egon Tschirch in Art Museum Ahrenshoop''. https://kunstmuseum-ahrenshoop.de/ausstellungen/rueckschau/tschirch/ Website Kunstmuseum Ahrenshoop. Retrieved April 17, 2024.

Early years in the
German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

From 1907 to 1912, Egon Tschirch attended three prestigious art academies 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 ...

. Among his teachers were

Bruno Paul Bruno Paul (19 January 1874 – 17 August 1968) was a German architect, illustrator, interior designer, and furniture designer. Trained as a painter in the royal academy just as the Munich Secession developed against academic art, he first ca ...

and

Anton von Werner Anton Alexander von Werner (9 May 18434 January 1915) was a German painter and illustrator, best known for his depictions of the Franco-Prussian War and the Unification of Germany, typical of the Naturalist style. Member of the Akademie der K ...

. In 1919, a study trip to

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

and

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

awakened his preference for vibrant colours. Tschirch fought in

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 ...

. After being injured, he worked at the Imperial army press office in Berlin, producing posters for the department of pictorial propaganda from 1916 to the end of the war. These posters featured darkly colored war targets with corresponding text and messages encouraging wartime perseverance. He returned to Rostock after the war.

Artistic breakthrough in the
Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

His most important creative period lasted from 1919 to the late 1920s. His productivity and willingness to experiment made him a fitful, yet successful, artist in

during the early

Golden Twenties The Golden Twenties (), also known as the Happy Twenties (), was a five-year time period within the decade of the 1920s in Germany. The era began in 1924, after the end of the hyperinflation following World War I, and ended with the Wall Stree ...

. Some prominent examples of his work during this time were ''Boats with Fishermen'' (1922) at the Rostock Museum of Cultural History and ''Warnow Fishermen'' (1923) at

Rostock Art Gallery The Rostock Art Gallery () was opened on 15 May 1969 as a museum of contemporary art in Rostock in the German federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It is in the grounds of the park around the Schwanenteich lake in the quarter of Reutershagen. ...

. In 1923, Tschirch created his

expressionist 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 ...

cycle of paintings centered around the biblical ''

''. They were rediscovered in 2015 after being lost for more than 90 years. Tschirch was also considered a master of

portrait A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face is always predominant. In arts, a portrait may be represented as half body and even full body. If the subject in full body better r ...

art who was adept at capturing the character and traits of his clients. Several members of Mecklenburg's

bourgeoisie 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. They are traditionally contrasted wi ...

were portrayed by him. Examples of this are the portrait ''

Max Samuel Max Samuel (9 January 1883 – 2 September 1942) was a German businessman and self-made man, founder and managing-director of the ''EMSA-Werke'', chair of the Jewish congregation in Rostock and head deputy of the Israelite Upper Council ...

'' (1920) and the series of twenty ''Heads'' (1921), the latter of which was only labeled with numbers.

Affiliation with Nazism

Beginning in the early

1930s File:1930s decade montage.png, From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Owens Thompson, Florence Thompson shows the effects of the Great Depression; due to extreme drought conditions, farms across the south-central Uni ...

, there was little significant artistic development in Tschirch's work. His art consisted of objective and realistic themes. In the emerging era of

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

, Egon Tschirch identified with national socialist views. In 1931 he joined the Nazi Party. He produced several works on commission in the service of the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

as well as commissions from private individuals that enabled him to live a comfortable life until the beginning of the

Second World War 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 ...

. When the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

, the genocide of Jews by Nazi Germany, began and his hometown was destroyed in 1942, Tschirch began to criticise the Nazi regime. One of his paintings from this time hangs in St. Mary's Church in Rostock, depicting the church surrounded by the city’s ruins. In 1948, Egon Tschirch died childless in Rostock at the age of 58.

Reception

In the summer of 1937, there were discussions about whether some of his works from the early 1920s should be classified as degenerate art and removed from the State Museum Schwerin. The intervention of advocates on his behalf prevented this. Tschirch was treated with caution and largely forgotten in

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

. Since 1998 several exhibitions have taken place in

and

Ahrenshoop Ahrenshoop is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany on the Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula of the Baltic Sea. It used to be a small fishing village, but is today known for its tourism and as a holi ...

. The first monograph on his life and work was published in 2020. Tschirch has a street named after him in Rostock.https://onlinestreet.de/strassen/Egon-Tschirch-Weg.Rostock.575472.html Website Onlinestreet. Retrieved April 17, 2024.

Selected images

Egon Tschirch - Sommertag (1919).jpg, ''Sommertag, Summer day'' (1919) Egon Tschirch - Bassin Kairouan (1914).jpg, ''Bassins des Aglabites, Kairouan (Tunisia) (1914)'' Propaganda im Ersten Weltkrieg - Was der Feind will II (1918).jpg, ''Was der Feind will, What the enemy wants (1917/18)'' Max Samuel Portrait with suede brush.jpg, ''

(1920),(Portrait with suede brush)'' Egon Tschirch - Line Ristow (Köpfe, 1921).jpg, ''Köpfe, Heads (1921), (Portrait Line Ristow)'' Egon Tschirch - Die zerstörte Stadt - 1942.jpg, ''Die zerstörte Stadt, The destroyed town (

)''(1942) Egon Tschirch - Signatur.jpg, Egon Tschirch´s signature

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tschirch, Egon German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German Expressionist painters 1889 births 1948 deaths People from Rostock Artists from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Nazi Party members