Joseph Jean Ferdinand Kutter (1894–1941) is considered one of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

's most important painters. He was greatly influenced by the Impressionists but developed his own distinctive Expressionist style.

Early life

Kutter was born on 12 December 1894 in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

where his father, Paul Kutter, was one of the city's early photographers. Hoping to become a painter, he first attended the ''Ecole d'Artisans'' in Luxembourg and then the schools of decorative art in Strasbourg and Munich. From 1917 to 1918, he studied at the Munich Academy where he was introduced to a style of painting inspired by Wilhelm Leibl."Kutter et l'expressionisme européen", Musée national d'histoire et d'art, Luxembourg, 7 juillet – 19 août 2007". .

Artistic career

From 1919, after being strongly influenced by Cézanne, he presented his paintings at the

Secessionist Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

exhibitions 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 ...

. Although he returned to Luxembourg in 1924, he continued to exhibit in Munich until 1932 as a result of the negative criticism his nude paintings received in his home town. From 1925, he became increasingly interested in Flemish Expressionism which was flourishing in Belgium and France. Encouraged by André de Ridder, a Belgian art critic and strong supporter of Expressionism, Kutter participated in the 1926 Salon d'Automne in Paris. The same year, he became a founding member of the avant-garde Luxembourg secession movement, exhibiting at its salon in 1927. He also continued to exhibit regularly at the ''Salon d'automne'' in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. His abilities were widely recognized in

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and

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, much less so in

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. In 1933, he ceased exhibiting in Germany after being considered a degenerate as Hitler gained power. In 1936, he was commissioned to paint two large works of "Luxembourg" and "Clervaux" for the French

International Exposition A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

. While he was working on them, he began to suffer from a painful disease which the doctors were unable to diagnose. Later, during his better periods, he painted his clowns which reveal his suffering and anxiety. He died on 2 January 1941 in Luxembourg City.

Style

In Kutter's paintings, the subjects often stand in the foreground as if being photographed. His portraits, painted with strong brushstrokes, typically show figures with excessively large noses, always attracting attention. From 1918, Kutter's paintings increasingly began to present Expressionist motifs, especially in his landscapes and floral works where intense lines and colours became prominent. Although Kutter spent a number of years in Germany, his work was influenced above all by trends in France and Belgium. His centre of attention was the human figure. He often represented his subjects as sad, despairing clowns. The two large paintings (of Luxembourg City and

Clervaux Clervaux (; or locally ; ) is a commune and town in northern Luxembourg, situated in the canton of the same name. The town's arms, granted in 1896, show three blackbirds on a gold ground in the chief of a red shield, as a variation of the a ...

) he was commissioned to paint for Luxembourg's pavilion at the 1937 World Exposition in Paris are excellent examples of his maturing Expressionist style. In his painting of "Luxembourg" (above), his view of the city accentuates the stacked terracing of the houses, emphasizes the cubic appearance of the buildings, bestows a harsh appearance on the defensive walls and brings out the strength of the fortifications.

Selected works

*''The Champion'' (1932), National Museum of Art and History, Luxembourg, depicts the Luxembourg racing cyclist Nicolas Frantz (1899–1985). *''The Wooden Horse'' (1937), National Museum of Art and History, Luxembourg."Joseph Kutter"
, ''Musée national d'histoire et d'art''. Retrieved 17 December 2010. *''Luxembourg'' (1936–37), National Museum of Art and History, Luxembourg."Galerie"
''Luxembourg.public.lu''. Retrieved 17 December 2010. *''Clervaux'' (1936–37), National Museum of Art and History, Luxembourg. File:Kutter Cheval de bois.jpg, Cheval de bois (1937) File:Kutter Clervaux.jpg, ''Clervaux'' (1937) File:Kutter self-portrait.jpg, Self portrait (c. 1936) File:Kutter Clown avec accordéon.jpg, ''Clown avec accordéon'' (1936) File:Kutter Le Champion.jpg, ''Le Champion'' (1932)

References

External links