Rudolph Karl Alexander Schneider, commonly known as Sascha Schneider (21 September 1870 – 18 August 1927), was a German

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

Biography

Schneider was born in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

in 1870. During his childhood, his family lived in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, but following the death of his father, Schneider moved to

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 ...

, where he became a student at the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German language, German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institutio ...

in 1889. In 1903, he met best-selling author Karl May, and subsequently became the cover illustrator of a number of May's books including ''Winnetou'', ''Old Surehand'', ''Am Rio de la Plata''. A year later in 1904, Schneider was appointed professor at the ''Großherzoglich-Sächsische Kunstschule Weimar''. During this period, Schneider lived with painter . Jahn began blackmailing Schneider by threatening to expose his homosexuality, which was punishable under § 175 of the penal code. Schneider fled to

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 ...

, where

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

was not criminalized at that time. In Italy, Schneider met painter , with whom he traveled through the

Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains * * Azerbaijani: , * * * * * * * * * * * is a mountain range at the intersection of Asia and Europe. Stretching between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, they are surrounded by the Caucasus region ...

. He then traveled back to Germany, where he lived for six months in Leipzig before returning to Italy, where he resided in Florence. When the First World War started, Schneider returned to Germany again, taking up residence in Hellerau (near

). After 1918, he co-founded an institute called ''Kraft-Kunst'' for bodybuilding. Some of the models for his art trained here. Schneider, who suffered from

diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained hyperglycemia, high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or th ...

, suffered a diabetic seizure during a ship voyage in the vicinity of Swinemünde. As a result, he collapsed and died in 1927 in Swinemünde. He was buried in Loschwitz Cemetery, Germany.

In popular culture

Schneider's painting ''Hypnosis'' (in Gallery below) inspired a key shot in the Robert Eggers film '' The Lighthouse'', as well as inspiring the Corpse of King Minos' eyes in ''

Ultrakill ''Ultrakill'' is an upcoming first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by Arsi "Hakita" Patala and published by New Blood Interactive. It was released on Steam (software), Steam through early access for Microsoft Windows on 3 Se ...

''.

Works

* ''Mein Gestalten und Bilden''. 1912. autobiography

Exhibitions

*''Sascha Schneider - Ideenmaler & Körperbildner''/"Sascha Schneider - Visualizing ideas through the human body" (2013), Stadtmuseum Weimar *"Nude in Public: Sascha Schneider - Homoeroticism and the Male Form circa 1900" (2013), Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art

Gallery

File:Anarchist (Schneider).jpg, ''The Anarchist'' (1894) File:Old Surehand.jpg, Cover illustration for ''Old Surehand'' by Karl May (1904) File:Winnetou.jpg, Cover illustration for ''Winnetou III'' by Karl May (1904) Image:Sascha Schneider - Am Rio De La Plata.jpg, Cover illustration for ''Am Rio De La Plata'' by Karl May (1904) File:Sascha Schneider Ardistan.jpg, Cover illustration for ''Ardistan und Dschinnistan'' by Karl May (1904) File:Hypnose (Schneider).jpg, ''Hypnosis'' (1904) File:Friede auf Erden.jpg, ''Peace on Earth'' (1904) File:Morgendämmerung von Sascha Schneider.jpg, ''Dawn'' (1905) File:Ikarus (Schneider).jpg, ''Icarus'' (1906) File:Mondnacht.jpg, ''Moon Night'' (1906) File:Gymnasion.jpg, ''Gymnasion'' (ca. 1912) File:Gefühl der Abhängigkeit.jpg, ''Feeling of Dependence'' (1920) File:Tobias und der Engel.jpg, ''Tobias and the Angel'' (1921) File:Jüngling im blauen Mantel.jpg, ''Youth in a Blue Coat'' (1921) File:Mosaik_grabtolkewitz_saschaschneider.jpg, Mosaic at the gravesite of Georg Clages (1894–1920), Urnenhain Tolkewitz, Dresden

Literature

* Hans-Gerd Röder: ''Sascha Schneider - ein Maler für Karl May''. Karl-May-Verlag. Bamberg 1995. 3-7802-0280-8. * Rolf Günther / Dr. Klaus Hoffmann: ''Sascha Schneider & Karl May — Eine Künstlerfreundschaft''. Karl-May-Stiftung. Radebeul 1989. * Hansotto Hatzig: ''Karl May und Sascha Schneider. Dokumente einer Freundschaft. "Beiträge zur Karl-May-Forschung"''. Edition 2. Bamberg 1967. * Annelotte Range: ''Zwischen Max Klinger und Karl May''. Karl-May-Verlag. Bamberg 1999. 3-7802-3007-0. * Felix Zimmermann: ''Sascha Schneider''. Verlag der Schönheit. Dresden 1924. * Sascha Schneider: ''Titelzeichnungen zu den Werken Karl Mays''. Verlag von Friedrich Ernst Fehsenfeld. Freiburg. 1905. * Kristopher Brownlow: ''The Provocative Art Of Sascha Schneider'', Mountbatten Press, Oxford etc. 2024, ISBN 9798341358980

References

External links

* *
Sascha Schneider
in

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; ) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to collect, permanently archive, comprehens ...

Sascha Schneider's grave
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schneider, Sascha 1870 births 1927 deaths 19th-century German painters 19th-century German male artists Art Nouveau painters German male painters German Symbolist painters 20th-century German painters 20th-century German male artists Painters from the Russian Empire Artists from Dresden Artists from Zurich German gay artists Russian gay artists German LGBTQ painters Russian LGBTQ painters Gay painters Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the German Empire 19th-century German LGBTQ people 20th-century German LGBTQ people