George Kenner
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George Kenner (1 November 1888 – 10 July 1971) was a German artist. He made 110 paintings and drawings during the
First World War 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 ...
while interned as a German civilian
internee A civilian internee is a civilian detained by a belligerent to a war for security reasons. Internees are usually forced to reside in internment camps. Historical examples include internment of Japanese and German Americans in the United States dur ...
in Great Britain and the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
.


Birth and background

Kenner was born Georg Kennerknecht on November 1, 1888, in the small town of
Schwabsoien Schwabsoien is a municipality in the Weilheim-Schongau district, in Bavaria, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and th ...
, near the
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in the
Weilheim-Schongau Weilheim-Schongau is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Landsberg, Starnberg, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Ostallgäu. Geography The distric ...
district of
Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
, Germany. He went to art school in Germany. He moved to London in 1910. He worked at and co-owned the small "process artist" company Waddington & Kennerknecht at 73
Farringdon Street Farringdon Road is a road in Clerkenwell, London. Route Farringdon Road is part of the A201 route connecting King's Cross to Elephant and Castle. It goes southeast from King's Cross, crossing Rosebery Avenue, then turns south, crossing C ...
with a British partner. He also attended night school at London's
Lambeth School of Art Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...
to study
airbrush An airbrush is a small, air-operated tool that atomizes and sprays various media, most often paint, but also ink, dye, and make-up. Spray painting developed from the airbrush and is considered to employ a type of airbrush. History Up unt ...
techniques. He was registered as an "
alien enemy Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, a lifeform with ext ...
" on August 23, 1914, then abruptly interned five days after the RMS ''Lusitania'' was sunk by a German
U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
on May 7, 1915.George Kenner hand-written journal now at the Imperial War Museum, London. Being a trained
commercial artist Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...
by profession, and wanting to stay in practice with his work, he negotiated with the PoW camp authorities to be allowed to create what became the most extensive collection of World War I
internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...
scenes known.


History of internment

Kenner was held at three camps, and recorded scenes from each in his artwork: On May 12, 1915, he was first sent to a temporary tent camp built on Frith Hill, on an area which is now part of the Pine Ridge Golf Centre, near
Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath, in Surrey, England. It lies approximately south-west of central London. The town is of Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Hi ...
, in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
. The camp grew to hold 2,000 civilian prisoners, but was considered unsuitable for the approaching winter. On September 29, 1915, Kenner was sent to
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
in
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames and the City of London. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshi ...
. 3,000 internees were held in three sections. Conditions were better here. In June 1916, Kenner was sent to the
Knockaloe internment camp Knockaloe Internment Camp was a WWI list of concentration and internment camps#Isle of Man, internment camp on the Isle of Man, at Knockaloe Farm in the parish of Patrick, Isle of Man, Patrick, near Peel, Isle of Man, Peel, which housed 23,000 pri ...
near
Peel Peel or Peeling may refer to: Places Australia * Peel (Western Australia) * Peel, New South Wales * Peel River (New South Wales) Canada * Peel Parish, New Brunswick * Peel, New Brunswick, an unincorporated community in Peel Parish * Pee ...
on the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
in the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
. This camp held 30,000 civilian prisoners for the remainder of the war and beyond. He was finally sent back to Germany in a
prisoner exchange A prisoner exchange or prisoner swap is a deal between opposing sides in a conflict to release prisoners: prisoner of war, prisoners of war, spy, spies, hostages, etc. Sometimes, cadaver, dead bodies are involved in an exchange. Geneva Conven ...
in March 1919, four months after the
Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from t ...
.


Family and later history

Kenner married artist Margarete Bohne 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 ...
on September 8, 1921. Two of their first three children died in the 1920s due to bad post-war conditions in Germany. They eventually were able to emigrate to the United States in September 1927, sailing from the
port of Hamburg The Port of Hamburg (, ) is a seaport on the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany, from its mouth on the North Sea. Known as Germany's "Gateway to the World" (), it is the country's largest seaport by volume. In terms of TEU throughput, Hambur ...
, Germany, to
Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...
, New York. They settled in
Cheltenham, Pennsylvania Cheltenham is an unincorporated community in Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 19012. It is located directly over the city line ( Cheltenham Avenue) of Philadelphia. It also borders Northeast Philadelphia ove ...
. There Kenner set up a successful business working out of his home as an independent
commercial artist Commercial art is the art of creative services, referring to art created for commercial purposes, primarily advertising. Commercial art uses a variety of platforms (magazines, websites, apps, television, etc.) for viewers with the intent of promo ...
. Kenner and his family were
naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...
as American citizens in 1934. A fourth child, Christa Kenner Bedford, was born in 1937. Kenner died of natural causes at his home on July 10, 1971, at age 82.


Disposition of artwork

Many of his drawings, hand-written journal, business card,
Lambeth School of Art Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...
tuition slips, immigration and "alien enemy" registration documents were accepted into the
Imperial War Museum The Imperial War Museum (IWM), currently branded "Imperial War Museums", is a British national museum. It is headquartered in London, with five branches in England. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, it was intended to record the civ ...
in London, in October 2005. Three other British museums acquired the art that Kenner produced in their particular areas during the war: the
Surrey Heath Surrey Heath is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district with borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Surrey, England. Its council is based in Camberley. Much of the area is within the Metropolitan Green Belt. The ...
Museum, in
Camberley Camberley is a town in north-west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. It is in the Surrey Heath, Borough of Surrey Heath and is close to the county boundaries with Hampshire and Berkshire. Known originally as "Cambridge Tow ...
, the
Manx National Heritage Manx National Heritage () is the national heritage organisation for the Isle of Man. The organisation manages a significant proportion of the Island’s physical heritage assets including over 3,000 acres of coastline and landscape. It holds pro ...
Museum in
Douglas, Isle of Man Douglas (, ) is the Capital (political), capital city and largest settlement of the Isle of Man, with a population of 26,677 (2021) and an area of . It is located at the mouth of the River Douglas, Isle of Man, River Douglas, and on a sweepi ...
, and Bruce Castle Museum in London. Several of Kenner's paintings from his Frith Hill PoW camp period were used in the book ''Reflections – A Heatherside Miscellany'' by Nick McCormick, published in June 2006. Several other paintings from Kenner's
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
PoW period were used in the book ''Ally Pally Prison Camp'' by
Maggie Butt Maggie Brookes-Butt is a British poet and novelist. Background Maggie Brookes-Butt is an ex-journalist and BBC TV producer turned poet and novelist. Her seventh poetry collection is ''Wish - new and selected poems'' (Greenwich Exchange) Janu ...
, published in June 2011.


Gallery

File:George Kenner painting wife and child of British PoW camp commander, 1915.jpg, George Kenner painting British POW camp commander's wife and daughter at Frith Hill POW tent camp near
Frimley Frimley is a town in the Borough of Surrey Heath, in Surrey, England. It lies approximately south-west of central London. The town is of Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Saxon origin, although it is not listed in Domesday Book of 1086. Hi ...
, in
Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...
, England, 1915. File:Alexandra Sports Palace, London, Converted Into Winter Internment Camp 1915-16 Art.IWMART17072.jpg, '' Alexandra Sports Palace, London, Converted into Winter Internment Camp'', November 1915. File:Wired-off Terrace for Exercise in Bad Weather for Civillian Pows near London Art.IWMART17066.jpg, ''Wired-off Terrace for Exercise in Bad Weather for Civilian Pows'' at
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
, February 1916. File:Overnight Snowfall Melting Into Slush Art.IWMART17057.jpg, ''Overnight Snowfall Melting into Slush'' at the
Knockaloe internment camp Knockaloe Internment Camp was a WWI list of concentration and internment camps#Isle of Man, internment camp on the Isle of Man, at Knockaloe Farm in the parish of Patrick, Isle of Man, Patrick, near Peel, Isle of Man, Peel, which housed 23,000 pri ...
on the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
, April 1917. File:George Kenner (2nd from right) and friends at Isle of Man Camp 2.3.1918.jpg, George Kenner (2nd from right) with his younger brother Benno (far right) and fellow interns at the Knockaloe internment camp on the Isle of Man, February 1918. File:Storm and Rainbow, Symbol for Near End of War 1918 Art.IWMART17055.jpg, ''Storm and Rainbow, Symbol for Near End of War'',
Knockaloe internment camp Knockaloe Internment Camp was a WWI list of concentration and internment camps#Isle of Man, internment camp on the Isle of Man, at Knockaloe Farm in the parish of Patrick, Isle of Man, Patrick, near Peel, Isle of Man, Peel, which housed 23,000 pri ...
on the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
, August 1918. File:George Kenner with his Violin - 81 yrs old, Nov 1969.jpg, George Kenner, former World War I POW, with his violin on his 81st birthday at his residence in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania, November 1, 1969.


References


External links


George Kenner POW Art in Imperial War Museum, London Photo AlbumGeorge Kenner POW Art in Surrey Heath Museum Photo AlbumGeorge Kenner POW Art in Manx National Heritage Museum, Douglas, Isle of Man Photo AlbumGeorge Kenner POW Art in Bruce Castle Museum, London Photo AlbumGeorge Kenner Hand-Written Internment Journal Photo AlbumGeorge Kenner non-POW Art Photo AlbumKenner's work from the Imperial War Museum collection
IWM website {{DEFAULTSORT:Kenner, George 1888 births 1971 deaths 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German male painters German prisoners and detainees German prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom German emigrants to the United States