Fritz Schwarz-Waldegg, originally Friedrich Schwarz (1 March 1889,

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. ...

- 14 October 1943,

Sobibor Sobibor ( ; ) was an extermination camp built and operated by Nazi Germany as part of Operation Reinhard. It was located in the forest near the village of Żłobek Duży in the General Government region of Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), ...

) was an Austrian

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 ...

and

Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

painter of Jewish ancestry. He was murdered in

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 ...

Biography

His father was a magistrate's clerk.Brief biography
@ the Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon, He showed an early interest in art and his parents were supportive. At the age of seventeen, he began attending the private art school of David Kohn (1861-1922), a portrait and

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

painter. He received further training at the

Academy of Fine Arts The following is a list of notable art schools. Accredited non-profit art and design colleges * Adelaide Central School of Art * Alberta College of Art and Design * Art Academy of Cincinnati * Art Center College of Design * The Art Institute ...

under

Christian Griepenkerl Christian Griepenkerl (17 March 1839 – 22 March 1916) was a German painter and professor, best known for rejecting Adolf Hitler's application to train at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna. Biography Griepenkerl was born to one of Oldenburg (cit ...

and

Rudolf Bacher Rudolf Bacher (20 January 1862, in Vienna – 16 April 1945, in Vienna) was an Austrian painter and sculptor. Life and work From 1882 to 1888, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna, with Leopold Carl Müller, and the history painter, ...

. At the outbreak of World War I, he volunteered and served with the infantry in Italy, where he painted battle scenes. During his service, in 1916, he converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, with the approval of his family.Ausstellung ''Verdrängte Jahre. Bahn und Nationalsozialismus in Österreich 1938–1945''
@ Milli Segal After completing his tour of duty, he traveled extensively; staying briefly in Copenhagen, Rome and Paris. When he returned to Vienna, he made the acquaintance of

Egon Schiele Egon Leo Adolf Ludwig Schiele (; 12 June 1890 – 31 October 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painters, painter. His work is noted for its intensity and its raw sexuality, and for the many self-portraits the artist produced, including nude sel ...

and

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright and teacher, best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expre ...

. As a result, he joined the

Hagenbund The Hagenbund or Künstlerbund Hagen was a group of Austrian artists that formed in 1899. The group's name derived from the name Herr Hagen, the proprietor of an inn in Vienna which they frequented. Early history The group's most prominent member ...

, a liberal artists' association. From 1925 to 1927, he served as its President. Later, he traveled to Spain and Bosnia with his companion, the art dealer Leah Járay-Bondi (1880-1968). After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

, despite his conversion and good military record, he was forbidden to exhibit or accept commissions. Seven months later, he was suddenly forced to vacate his studio and many of his works were lost. He lived with his sister Melanie until August 1942, when he was taken away by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

. He was transported to the extermination camp at Maly Trostenets, but presumably transported further to Sobibor, as he is mentioned in the testimony of Kurt Ticho (Thomas) as an inmate he was befriended with.,Kurt Ticho, My Legacy: Holocaust, history and the unfinished task of Pope John Paul II, Wlodawa 2008, pp. 82 and 316 although earlier sources believe he was transported to Maly Trostinez and murdered upon arrival on 4 September 1942. SchwarzW-Cemetery

His surviving works remained in the care of his sister, who escaped death by virtue of being married to an "

Aryan ''Aryan'' (), or ''Arya'' (borrowed from Sanskrit ''ārya''), Oxford English Dictionary Online 2024, s.v. ''Aryan'' (adj. & n.); ''Arya'' (n.)''.'' is a term originating from the ethno-cultural self-designation of the Indo-Iranians. It stood ...

". They have since been widely scattered. In 2009, the

Jüdisches Museum Wien The Jüdisches Museum Wien, trading as ''Jüdisches Museum der Stadt Wien GmbH'' or the Jewish Museum Vienna, is a museum of Jewish history, life and religion in Austria. The museum is present on two locations, in the Palais Eskeles in the Dorot ...

gathered together 25 oil paintings and 70 watercolor drawings for a major retrospective.

References

External links

"Der Pionier der expressionistischen Malerei Österreichs Fritz Schwarz-Waldegg bis zum 25.4.2010 in Wien"
by Alfred Stalzer @ GFDK
"Ermordet und vergessen: Der Maler Fritz Schwarz-Waldegg"
@

Die Presse (, ) is a German-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vienna, Austria. It is considered a newspaper of record for Austria. History and profile was first printed on 3 July 1848 as a liberal (libertarian)-bourgeois newspaper within the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwarz-Waldegg, Fritz 1889 births 1942 deaths 20th-century Austrian painters 20th-century Austrian male artists Austrian Expressionist painters Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Austrian cubist artists Jewish painters People who died in Maly Trostenets extermination camp Painters from Vienna Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust

Biography

References

Further reading

External links