Johannes Driesch (21 November 1901,

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, its c ...

– 18 February 1930,

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

) was a German painter, graphic artist, ceramicist and book cover designer. His favorite subjects were his wife, Lydia, and their children.

Biography

He came from a large working-class family and began his career as an apprentice

stonemason Stonemasonry or stonecraft is the creation of buildings, structures, and sculpture using stone as the primary material. Stonemasonry is the craft of shaping and arranging stones, often together with mortar and even the ancient lime mortar ...

in Krefeld, then spent three semesters at the

Kunstgewerbeschule A Kunstgewerbeschule (English: ''School of Arts and Crafts'' or S''chool of Applied Arts'') was a type of vocational arts school that existed in German-speaking countries from the mid-19th century. The term Werkkunstschule was also used for the ...

there. Then, in 1919, he enrolled in the preparatory courses at the Staatliche Bauhaus 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 he studied with

Johannes Itten Johannes Itten (11 November 1888 – 25 March 1967) was a Swiss expressionist painter, designer, teacher, writer and theorist associated with the Bauhaus (''Staatliches Bauhaus'') school. Together with German-American painter Lyonel Feining ...

and

Lyonel Feininger Lyonel Charles Adrian Feininger (; July 17, 1871January 13, 1956) was a German-American painter, and a leading exponent of Expressionism. He also worked as a caricaturist and comic strip artist. He was born and grew up in New York City. In 1887 h ...

. In 1920, he went to the pottery workshop at the Bauhaus in

Dornburg Dornburg is a town in the Saale-Holzland district, in Thuringia, Germany. It sits atop a small hill of 400 ft above the Saale. Since 1 December 2008, it is part of the town Dornburg-Camburg. History Within the German Empire (1871–1918) ...

. His primary instructors there were

Gerhard Marcks Gerhard Marcks (18 February 1889 – 13 November 1981) was a German artist, known primarily as a sculptor, but who is also known for his drawings, woodcuts, lithographs and ceramics. Early life Marcks was born in Berlin, where, at the age of 18, ...

and Max Krehan. The following year, he married Lydia Foucar (1895–1980), a prospective student whom he had met in Munich the year before.''Lydia Driesch-Foucar''
bei:

Friedrichsdorf Friedrichsdorf () is a town of the Hochtaunuskreis, some north of Frankfurt am Main in Hesse, Germany. Geography Location Friedrichsdorf is located in the Taunus area, ranking third among the Hochtaunuskreis boroughs after Bad Homburg vor der ...

, Website They had four children together, which brought their studies to an early finish, as they had to establish a family business to provide income. In 1922, he gave up pottery and became a free-lance artist, with the support of Marcks and the art historian, . He then continued his studies by himself, copying the

Old Masters In art history, "Old Master" (or "old master")Old Masters De ...

. After a futile attempt to obtain a Professorship in

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 ...

, he and his family relocated to

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

in 1928 and opened a studio there. He died two years later, following a brief illness, while working on a commission in Erfurt. Most of his works were confiscated by the

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 ...

government in 1935, after they were classified as " degenerate art".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Driesch, Johannes 1901 births 1930 deaths 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists German ceramists German graphic designers People from Krefeld Artists in the Degenerate Art exhibition

Biography

References

Further reading

External links