Will Grohmann (born 4 December 1887 in

Bautzen Bautzen () or Budyšin (), until 1868 ''Budissin'' in German, is a town in eastern Saxony, Germany, and the administrative centre of the Bautzen (district), district of Bautzen. It is located on the Spree (river), Spree river, is the eighth most ...

; died 6 May 1968 in

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 ...

) was a German art critic and art historian specialized in German Expressionism and abstract art. He was known as the "godfather of modernism".

Life and work

From 1908 to 1913 Grohmann studied oriental languages with special emphasis on

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

at the universities of Paris and Leipzig. Though he wrote his PhD thesis in Germanic literature, entitled ''Vers oder Prosa im hohen Drama des achtzehnten Jahrhunderts'' (1914), and taught languages at school, where

Erich Kästner Emil Erich Kästner (; 23 February 1899 – 29 July 1974) was a German writer, poet, screenwriter and satirist, known primarily for his humorous, socially astute poems and for children's books including ''Emil and the Detectives'' and '' Lisa an ...

was one of his pupils, he devoted his life to art research and publishing. He was interested in the painters of

Die Brücke Die Brücke (The Bridge), also known as Künstlergruppe Brücke or KG Brücke, was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. The founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and Karl Schmidt-R ...

and supported the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...

. After the First World War, he wrote many entries for the

Thieme-Becker Thieme-Becker is a German biographical dictionary of artists. Thieme-Becker The dictionary was begun under the editorship of Ulrich Thieme (1865–1922) (volumes one to fifteen) and Felix Becker (1864–1928) (volumes one to four). It was compl ...

and articles for the periodical '. He also published books on his friend,

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (6 May 1880 – 15 June 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist Painting, painter and printmaker and one of the founders of the artists group Die Brücke or "The Bridge", a key group leading to the foundation of Expr ...

. He was also a friend of

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Karl Schmidt until 1905; 1 December 1884 – 10 August 1976) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker; he was one of the four founders of the artist group Die Brücke. Life and work Schmidt-Rottluff was born in R ...

Otto Dix Wilhelm Heinrich Otto Dix (; 2 December 1891 – 25 July 1969) was a German painter and Printmaking, printmaker, noted for his ruthless and harshly realistic depictions of German society during the Weimar Republic and the brutality of war. Alon ...

Paul Klee Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

and

Oskar Schlemmer Oskar Schlemmer (; 4 September 1888 – 13 April 1943) was a German painter, sculptor, designer and choreographer associated with the Bauhaus school. In 1923, he was hired as Master of Form at the Bauhaus theatre workshop, after working at the ...

. From 1926 to 1933 Grohmann worked at the Staatliche Gemäldegalerie, Dresden. In 1933 he was dismissed by the Nazis because he had an all too positive view of modern art. However, he continued publishing articles for newspapers under the pseudonym of Olaf Rydberg. During the Second World War, he researched the safer fields of archaeology and the art of migratory people. From 1945 to 1947 he was professor and rector at the Hochschule für Werkkunst, Leipzig. In 1947 he moved to West Berlin because of political differences, becoming a professor at the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

in 1948. Until his death, he continued championing abstract artists, including such post-war artists as

Willi Baumeister Willi Baumeister (22 January 1889 – 31 August 1955) was a German painter, scenic designer, art professor, and typographer. His work was part of the art competitions at the 1928 Summer Olympics and the 1932 Summer Olympics. Life Born in S ...

Rupprecht Geiger Rupprecht Geiger (26 January 1908 – 6 December 2009) was a German abstract painter and sculptor. Throughout his career, he favored monochromicity and color-field paintings. For a time, he concentrated solely on the color red. Life and work ...

, and Fritz Winter. Grohmann published over 500 essays on more than 150 artists, among them

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 ...

Ernst Barlach Ernst Heinrich Barlach (2 January 1870 – 24 October 1938) was a German Expressionism, expressionist sculptor, medallist, printmaker and writer. Although he was a supporter of the war in the years leading to World War I, his participation in th ...

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

and

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , ; ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan Spanish painter, sculptor and Ceramic art, ceramist. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona ...

, and about 1,300 newspaper articles, not to mention his many catalogue forewords. In the 1950s and 60s, he was also one of the most influential German art critics to appear on radio and television. Furthermore, he was engaged in curating important exhibitions and "played a significant role in drawing international attention to the avant-garde".

References

Select publications

*''The Drawings of Paul Klee''. New York: C. Valentin, 1944 *''The Intimate Sketchbooks of Georges Braque''. Paris: Verve, A. Zwemmer, 1955 *''Karl Schmidt-Rottluff''. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer, 1956 *''Art Since 1945''. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1958 *''Wassily Kandinsky: Life and Work''. New York: H. N. Abrams, 1958 *''Ernst Ludwig Kirchner''. Stuttgart: W. Kohlhammer 1958 *''Braque''. Greenwich, CN: New York Graphic Society, 1962 *''Oskar Schlemmer: Zeichnungen und Graphik. Oeuvrekatalog''. Stuttgart: Hatje, 1965 *''Willi Baumeister: Life and Work''. New York: H. N. Abrams 1966 *''Wassily Kandinsky: Eine Begegnung aus dem Jahre 1924''. Berlin: Friedenauer Presse, 1966 *''Paul Klee''. New York: H.N. Abrams 1967

External links

Dictionary of Art Historians: Will Grohmann
* ttp://www.staatsgalerie.de/archive_e/grohmann_detail.php Staatsgalerie Stuttgart: Will Grohmann - Pioneer of Modernismbr>Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden: In the Network of Modernism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grohmann, Will 1887 births 1968 deaths People from Bautzen People from the Kingdom of Saxony German art historians German male non-fiction writers

Life and work

References

Select publications

Further reading

External links