Julius Meier-Graefe (10 June 1867 – 5 June 1935) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

and

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

. His writings on

Impressionism Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by visible brush strokes, open Composition (visual arts), composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...

Post-Impressionism Post-Impressionism (also spelled Postimpressionism) was a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction a ...

as well as on art of earlier and more recent generations, with his most important contributions translated into French, Russian, and English are considered to have been instrumental for the understanding and the lasting success of these artistic movements.

Biography

Meier-Graefe was born in Reschitz, Banat, Hungary, then part of the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

. He was the grandson of (), and son of , a government civil engineer, and Marie Theresie (Marie-Thérèse) Meier née (1835, Halle/Saale1867, Resicabánya). The family, including his brother , moved to a small town near

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 ...

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 the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He chose the hyphenated surname Meier-Graefe to honour his mother who died giving birth to him. He studied engineering 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 ...

in 1888 and married Clotilde Vitzthum von Eckstädt (who was related to the art historian Georg Vitzthum von ). He moved to

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 ...

, where, in 1890, he started studying history in general and art history in particular. He began his literary career as a fiction writer with two novellas, ''Ein Abend bei Laura'' (1890) and ''Nach Norden'' (1893). His first work of art criticism, regarding

Edvard Munch Edvard Munch ( ; ; 12 December 1863 – 23 January 1944) was a Norwegian painter. His 1893 work ''The Scream'' has become one of Western art's most acclaimed images. His childhood was overshadowed by illness, bereavement and the dread of inher ...

, was published in 1894. In 1895, he was among the founders of the arts and literary periodical ''Pan'', but he left the magazine after a year. In 1897, he founded the

Jugendstil (; "Youth Style") was an artistic movement, particularly in the decorative arts, that was influential primarily in Germany, Austria and elsewhere in Europe to a lesser extent from about 1895 until about 1910. It was the German and Austrian cou ...

(

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

) magazine '' Dekorative Kunst'' and soon thereafter opened La Maison Moderne in Paris, a gallery that showcased Art Nouveau works. The gallery closed in 1903. The centennial exhibition of German art in the National Gallery in Berlin in 1906 featured Meier-Graefe's presentation of previously little-known works which first introduced the art of

Caspar David Friedrich Caspar David Friedrich (; 5 September 1774 – 7 May 1840) was a German Romanticism, German Romantic Landscape painting, landscape painter, generally considered the most important German artist of his generation, whose often symbolic, and anti ...

to a wider audience. Similarly, his 1910 book, ''Spanische Reise'' ("Spanish Journey"), led to the "rediscovery" of

El Greco Doménikos Theotokópoulos (, ; 1 October 1541 7 April 1614), most widely known as El Greco (; "The Greek"), was a Greek painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance, regarded as one of the greatest artists of all time. ...

and the recognition of the artist as a forerunner to the Expressionists. Relocating to Paris, Meier-Graefe turned his attention to 19th century French painting; his 3-volume history of modern art (1904 and 1914–24) canonized the importance of French Impressionism. He wrote important biographies of many artists, including

Paul Cézanne Paul Cézanne ( , , ; ; ; 19 January 1839 – 22 October 1906) was a French Post-Impressionism, Post-Impressionist painter whose work introduced new modes of representation, influenced avant-garde artistic movements of the early 20th century a ...

and

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

. When

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 ...

broke out, he volunteered in the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

. He was sent to the Eastern front and was captured and interned in a Russian POW camp in early 1915. Upon his return to Germany later that year, he divorced his first wife and married his second wife, Helene Lienhardt. The couple lived in Dresden but travelled often and considered France, especially Paris, a second home. Meier-Graefe's third marriage was to Anna Marie Epstein (1905 - 1994), an illustrator and painter about 38 years his junior.Library of Congress name authority file
/ref> A wealthy heiress, she was the only child of a Jewish couple, Else Kohn (22 March 1880 - ?) and Walter Epstein (11 May 1874 - 3 February 1918); her maternal grandparents were Adolf Kohn, a prominent German-Jewish banker, and Anna Michaelis. In 1930, Meier-Graefe and Epstein rented an estate called La Banette in Saint-Cyr-sur-Mer. They stayed there to escape the rise of 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 ...

movement in Germany, where he was under attack for his promotion of what the

National Socialist Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was frequen ...

s called "Degenerate Art." Meier-Graefe and Epstein encouraged and helped the landscape painter Walter Bondy and the writer René Schickele to relocate to the area as well. Their efforts led to the formation of a large German-Jewish refugee arts-colony in neighboring Sanary-sur-Mer, whose members included

Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...

Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Republic, Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. ...

, and Ludwig Marcuse. Meier-Graefe died in Vevey, Switzerland at the age of 67.

Writings

* ''Ein modernes Milieu''. in Dekorative Kunst (1901) ** English translation: ''A Modern Milieu''. Ed. by Markus Breitschmid and Harry Francis Mallgrave. Backsburg, 2007, * ''Entwicklungsgeschichte der modernen Kunst'': ''Vergleichende Betrachtung der bildenden Künste, als Beitrag zu einer neuen Aesthetik''. 3 vols. Hofmann, Stuttgart 1904 ** English translation: ''Modern Art: being a contribution to a new system of aesthetics.'' 3 vols. Heinemann, London; Putnam, New York 1908 ** 2nd revised and enlarged edition, Piper, Munich 1914 - 1922 * ''Der Fall Böcklin und die Lehre von den Einheiten''. Stuttgart 1905 * ''Impressionisten: Guys - Manet - Van Gogh - Pissarro - Cézanne, mit einer Einleitung über den Wert der französischen Kunst und sechzig Abbildungen''. Piper, Munich ¹1907 & Leipzig ²1907 ** Three of these chapters have been reprinted separately, revised and enlarged: *** ''Édouard Manet'' *** ''Vincent van Gogh''. Piper, Munich (Cover design after a drawing by

) **** 4. - 6. Td.; 50 ill. and facsimile of a letter. Piper, Munich 1912 (published in two printings with deferring illustrations!) **** 4th, improved edition; 50 ill. (not 40 ill., as stated on the title page!) and facsimile of a letter. Piper, Munich 1918 **** 5th, improved edition; 50 ill. and facsimile of a letter. Piper, Munich 1922 **** 6th, improved edition, 14. - 16. Td.; 54 ill. and facsimile of a letter. Piper, Munich 1929 *** ''Paul Cézanne''. Piper, Munich (Cover designed by

Franz Marc Franz Moritz Wilhelm Marc (8 February 1880 – 4 March 1916) was a German painter and printmaking, printmaker, one of the key figures of German Expressionism. He was a founding member of ''Der Blaue Reiter'' (The Blue Rider), a journal whose ...

, after a painting by

) **** 5th, totally revised edition, 7. - 10. Td.; 38 ill. Piper, Munich 1923 *
Auguste Renoir
', ''mit hundert Abbildungen.'' Piper, Munich 1911. ** 2nd edition 1920 * ''Courbet''. Piper, Munich 1921 ** Re-edited 1924 * ''Vincent''. 2 vols. 103 plates. Piper, Munich ²1922 ** Pre-release serialised in Der Neue Merkur 3 (1919/1920)& 4 (1920/1921): *** ''Vincent und Theo'', Der Neue Merkur 3 (1919/1920), special issue: "Werden", pp. 37–78 *** ''Van Gogh in Paris'', Der Neue Merkur 4 (1920/1921), pp. 143–169 *** ''Van Gogh in Arles'', Der Neue Merkur 4 (1920/1921), pp. 445–460 *** ''Das Gelbe Haus'', Der Neue Merkur 4 (1920/1921), pp. 523–532 *** ''Van Gogh und Gauguin'', Der Neue Merkur 4 (1920/1921), pp. 622–643 *** ''Fou-Roux (Der rote Narr)'', Der Neue Merkur 4( 1920/1921), pp. 685–696 *** ''Van Gogh in St. Remy'', Der Neue Merkur 4 (1920/1921), pp. 769–786 *** ''Das Ende Van Goghs'', Der Neue Merkur 4 (1920/1921), pp. 822–841 * ''Das Tage-Buch.'' ''Geständnisse meines Vetters. Novellen''. Rowohlt, Berlin 1923 * ''Vincent van Gogh, der Zeichner.'' 52 plates. O. Wacker, Berlin 1928 * ''Renoir''. , Leipzig 1929, with 407 illustrations and 10 plates

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meier-Graefe, Julius 1865 births 1935 deaths 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German writers 20th-century German male writers German art critics Hungarian art critics Art Nouveau Technical University of Munich alumni Hungarian people of German descent Hungarian people of Jewish descent German people of Hungarian-Jewish descent German people of Jewish descent People from the Kingdom of Hungary People from Reșița Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Germany