Max Slevogt (8 October 1868 – 20 September 1932) was a German Impressionist painter and illustrator, best known for his

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

s. He was, together with Lovis Corinth and Max Liebermann, one of the foremost representatives in Germany of the

plein air ''En plein air'' (; French for 'outdoors'), or plein-air painting, is the act of painting outdoors. This method contrasts with studio painting or academic rules that might create a predetermined look. The theory of 'En plein air' painting is c ...

style.

Biography

250px, Slevogthof Neukastel He was born in Landshut, Kingdom of Bavaria, in 1868. From 1885 to 1889 he studied at the

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 ...

Academy, and his early paintings are dark in tone, exemplifying the prevailing style in Munich. In 1889 Slevogt visited

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 ...

, where he attended the

Académie Julian The () was a private art school for painting and sculpture founded in Paris, France, in 1867 by French painter and teacher Rodolphe Julian (1839–1907). The school was active from 1868 through 1968. It remained famous for the number and qual ...

. In 1896, he drew caricatures for the magazines ''

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel ''Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus'' and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a German language, German weekly satire, satirical magazine, founded by Albert ...

'' and ''Jugend'', and the next year he had his first solo exhibition in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. Toward the end of the 1890s his palette brightened. He travelled again to Paris in 1900, where he was represented in the German pavilion of the world exhibition with the work ''Scheherezade'', and was greatly impressed by the paintings of

Édouard Manet Édouard Manet (, ; ; 23 January 1832 – 30 April 1883) was a French Modernism, modernist painter. He was one of the first 19th-century artists to paint modern life, as well as a pivotal figure in the transition from Realism (art movement), R ...

. In 1901 he joined the Berlin Secession. A trip to Egypt in 1914 resulted in 21 oil paintings in a fresh bright style, as well as numerous watercolors and drawings; on the return journey he stopped off in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. In June he acquired the country seat Neukastel. After the outbreak of

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 ...

he was sent as official war painter to the western front. The war experience brought about a search for new style appropriate to the expression of the horrors of war. Gabriel Ferry's book Der Waldlaufer, published in 1921 in a limited edition, was illustrated with lithographs by Slevogt, many of these show the terror of pursuit and horrors of war. In the same year he became a member of the Prussian Academy of Arts in Berlin. He designed scenery for the performance of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...

'' in the Dresdner state opera in 1924. His work was part of the painting event in the art competition 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 ...

. In 1929 he was given a large 60th birthday exhibition in the Prussian academy of the arts in Berlin. During the last year of his life he worked on the religious mural ''Golgatha'' in the peace church in Ludwigshafen on the Rhine. It was destroyed by bombing raids during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Max Slevogt died in Leinsweiler (at that time in the Rheinpfalz part 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 ...

) in 1932. He is buried in the burial place of the family Finkler east of his house, the so-called Slevogthof (with wall paintings) at Neukastel.

Restitutions of artworks

In 2020 the Saarland Cultural Heritage Foundation announced the return of the following Max Slevogt works to the heirs of Julius Freund, whose family was racially persecuted as Jews after 30 January 1933 and forced to sell under the Nazis. * ''Francisco d'Andrade (Head Study)'', 1902, oil on canvas. * ''The Port of Brindisi'', 1914, watercolor * ''Li-Hung-Tschang'', 1900, ink drawing * ''Scheherezade tells her story to the Caliph'', 1901, pen drawing * ''Mungos'', 1901, watercolor pen drawing * ''Lamenting Women (Lamenting Women in front of a House)'', ca.1898–1903, pen and ink drawing

Selected paintings

File:Slevogt, Max - Danae - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Danaë'' (1895) File:Max Slevogt - Portrait of the dancer Marietta di Rigardo - Google Art Project.jpg, ''Portrait of the Dancer Marietta di Rigardo'' (1904) File:Max Slevogt - Grape harvest - M.Ob.2561 - National Museum in Warsaw.jpg, ''Grape Harvest'' (ca. 1900–1909) File:Max Slevogt - Der Sänger Francisco d'Andrade als Don Giovanni in Mozarts Oper - Google Art Project.jpg, '' Francisco d'Andrade as

'' (1912) File:1913 Slevogt Unter den Linden anagoria.JPG, ''Under the Linden Trees'' (1913) File:Sudanese Women in Egypt by Max Slevogt (1914), Albertinum, Dresden.jpg, ''Sudanese Women in Egypt'' (1914),

Albertinum The Albertinum () is a modern art museum. The sandstone-clad Renaissance Revival architecture, Renaissance Revival building is located on Brühl's Terrace in the historic center of Dresden, Germany. It is named after King Albert, King of Saxony, A ...

References

External links

Max Slevogt-Galery Schloss Villa Ludwigshöhe in Edenkoben
*
works by the artist at "Museumsportal Schleswig-Holstein"
* Slevogthof Neukastel (at Leinsweiler)
''German masters of the nineteenth century: paintings and drawings from the Federal Republic of Germany''
a full text exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on Max Slevogt (no. 83–86)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Slevogt, Max 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists German male painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists 1868 births 1932 deaths Académie Julian alumni Impressionist artists German Impressionist painters Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class) German Orientalist painters People from Landshut Art competitors at the 1928 Summer Olympics Artists from the Kingdom of Bavaria