Gert Heinrich Wollheim (11 September 1894 – 22 April 1974) was a German

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 ...

painter later associated with the

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in ) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against German Expressionism, expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle Mannheim, Kunsthalle' ...

, who fled Nazi Germany and worked in the United States after 1947.

Life and work

Gert Heinrich Wollheim was born in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Loschwitz Loschwitz is a borough (''Geography and urban development of Dresden#City structuring, Stadtbezirk'') of Dresden, Germany, incorporated in 1921. It consists of ten quarters (''Stadtteile''): Loschwitz is a villa quarter located at the slopes nor ...

. From 1911 to 1913, he studied at the College of Fine Arts in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

, where his instructors included

Albin Egger-Lienz Albin Egger-Lienz (29 January 1868 – 4 November 1926) was an Austrian painter known especially for rustic genre and historical paintings. Career He was born in Dölsach-Stribach near Lienz, in what was the county of Tyrol. He was the natural s ...

and Gottlieb Forster. From 1914 to 1917 he was in military service 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 ...

, where he sustained an abdominal wound. After the war he lived 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 ...

until 1919, when Wollheim,

Otto Pankok Otto Pankok (6 June 1893 – 10 October 1966) was a German painter, printmaker, and sculptor. Biography Pankok was born in Mülheim on the Ruhr. In 1912 he began his formal training as an artist at the Art Academies in Düsseldorf and Weima ...

(whom he had met at the academy in Weimar), Ulfert Lüken, Hermann Hundt and others created an artists' colony in Remels,

East Frisia East Frisia () or East Friesland (; ; ; ) is a historic region in the northwest of Lower Saxony, Germany. It is primarily located on the western half of the East Frisia (peninsula), East Frisian peninsula, to the east of West Frisia and to the ...

. At the end of 1919, Wollheim and Pankok went to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

and became founding members of the "

Young Rhineland Young Rhineland (Das Junge Rheinland) was an association of avant-garde artists formed in Düsseldorf on 24 February 1919. History The poet Herbert Eulenberg was one of the main instigators of the group, along with painter Arthur Kaufmann and ...

" group, which also included

Max Ernst Max Ernst (; 2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German-born painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and surrealism in Europe. He had no formal artistic trai ...

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and Printmaking, printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Alon ...

, and Ulrich Leman. Wollheim was one of the artists associated with the art dealer

Johanna Ey Johanna Ey (4 March 1864 – 27 August 1947) was a German art dealer during the 1920s. She became known as ''Mutter Ey'' (Mother Ey) for the nurturing support she provided to her artists, who included Max Ernst and Otto Dix. Biography Ey was ...

, and in 1922 he was taken to court over a painting displayed at her gallery. In 1925, he moved to Berlin, and his work, which always emphasized the theatrical and the grotesque, began a new phase of coolly objective representation. His work was part of the art competitions at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

and the

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

. After

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 ...

seized power in 1933 Wollheim´s works were declared degenerate art and many were destroyed.Michalski 1994, p. 219. He fled to France and became active in the Resistance. He was one of the co-founders of the

Union des Artistes Allemandes Libres The Union des Artistes Allemands Libres was a federation of exiled German artists living in Paris, France, after the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the establishment of the Third Reich after the Nazis seized power. It was founded in autumn 193 ...

, an organization of exiled German artists founded in Paris in autumn 1937. In that same year, he became the companion of the dancer

Tatjana Barbakoff Tatjana Barbakoff (August 15, 1899 – February 6, 1944), born as Tsipora Edelberg, was a ballet and Chinese style dancer. She became a ballerina in Germany. After her death, Julia Tardi-Markus, in order to honor Barbakoff, initiated the "Tatjan ...

. Meanwhile, in Munich, three of his pictures were displayed in the defamatory

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

exhibition '' Entartete Kunst'' (Degenerate Art) in 1937. From Paris, Wollheim fled to

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

and later to Switzerland. He was arrested in 1939 and held in a series of labor camps in France (

Vierzon Vierzon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher (river), Cher with some light industry and a ...

, Ruchard,

Gurs Gurs () in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. History Gurs was the site of the Gurs internment camp. Nothing remains of the camp; after World War II, a forest was planted on the site where it stood. Geography Gurs ...

and

Septfonds Septfonds (; ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Population See also *Communes of the Tarn-et-Garonne department The following is a list of the 195 communes of the Tarn-et-Garonne ...

) until his escape in 1942, after which he and his wife hid in the

Pyrénées The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. F ...

with the help of a peasant woman. At war's end in 1945 he returned to France. In 1947 he moved to New York City and became an American citizen. He died in New York in 1974.

Posthumous

In 2000, the

August Macke August Robert Ludwig Macke (3 January 1887 – 26 September 1914) was a German Expressionist painter. He was one of the leading members of the German Expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider). He lived during a particularly activ ...

Haus in

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

presented an important retrospective exhibition of his work. Wollheim's best-known work is probably ''Der Verwundete'', 'The Wounded Man' (1919), one of the most horrifying images to be produced by any artist who had experienced 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 ...

. The oil on board painting shows a half-naked soldier writhing in agony after receiving a death-wound in the belly. A version of this image was used as one of 'Dr. Lecter's drawings' in the film '' Silence of the Lambs''.

Notes

References

*Michalski, Sergiusz (1994). ''New Objectivity''. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen. *Schmied, Wieland (1978). ''Neue Sachlichkeit and German Realism of the Twenties''. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wollheim, Gert Heinrich 1894 births 1974 deaths Painters from Dresden Artists from the Kingdom of Saxony Art competitors at the 1932 Summer Olympics Art competitors at the 1928 Summer Olympics German people of Jewish descent Immigrants to the United States Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to France Artists in the Degenerate Art exhibition