Fritz Lang (15 March 1877 – 26 October 1961), was a German painter, noted for his

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas that ...

linocut Linocut, also known as lino print, lino printing or linoleum art, is a printmaking technique, a variant of relief printing in which a sheet of linoleum (sometimes mounted on a wooden block) is used for a relief printing, relief surface. A design i ...

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 and

book illustration The illustration of manuscript books was well established in ancient times, and the tradition of the illuminated manuscript thrived in the West until the invention of printing. Other parts of the world had comparable traditions, such as the Per ...

s. Born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, he was an apprentice decorative painter from 1892 and 1894, after which he attended the ''Königlich-Württembergische Kunstschule'' in Stuttgart, and the ''Karlsruher Akademie''. In 1899 he returned to Stuttgart, finding freelance work to generate an income. During this period he produced numerous woodcuts, some of which were purchased by the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

, the Königliche Kupferstichkabinett of Stuttgart, and the Hofbibliothek in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Between 1915 and 1918, during

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 ...

, he was conscripted and served with the armed forces. The post-war conditions in Germany were not conducive to artistic expression, and Lang's output was minimal during this period. By 1924 some of his work had been bought by the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

and the

Whitworth Art Gallery The Whitworth is an art gallery in Manchester, England, containing over 60,000 items in its collection. The gallery is located in Whitworth Park and is part of the University of Manchester. In 2015, the Whitworth reopened after it was transfor ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

. A trip to the former colony of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; ) was a German colonial empire, German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Portugu ...

in 1928 inspired Lang, and he produced a large number of woodcuts and paintings with an African theme. During

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 ...

the Allied bombing of Stuttgart destroyed Lang's studio. As a result his works became rare and valuable. Some 330 of his woodblocks survived the war. His animal and bird studies were outstanding, and clearly inspired other German and Austrian artists in their technique and composition. The influence of Japanese woodcut masters on Lang's work is evident.

Bibliography

*''Fritz Lang (1877-1961) Maler und Holzschneider : Monografie und Werkverzeichnis'' - Ingobert Schmid und Stefan Sandkühler - Published 1992 by K. Theiss in Stuttgart

External links

Fritz Lang

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lang (artist), Fritz German artists 1877 births 1961 deaths