Wilhelm Lehmbruck | |
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 Wilhelm LehmbruckSelf-portrait (1902) | |
| Born | Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-01-04)4 January 1881 Meiderich (part ofDuisburg since 1905),German Empire |
| Died | 25 March 1919(1919-03-25) (aged 38) |
| Known for | Sculpture |
| Movement | Realism,Expressionism |
Wilhelm Lehmbruck (4 January 1881 – 25 March 1919) was a Germansculptor. One of the most important of his generation, he was influenced byrealism andexpressionism.
Born in Meiderich (part ofDuisburg from 1905), he was the fourth of eight children born to the miner Wilhelm Lehmbruck and his wife Margaretha Wüstmann. He was able to study sculpture arts at the School of Applied Arts inDüsseldorf by a stipend from the municipal authorities. In 1899 he began to make a living by doing illustrations for scientific publications. He trained at theKunstakademie Düsseldorf and is associated with theDüsseldorf school of painting from 1901 to 1906. On leaving the academy Lehmbruck worked as an independent artist in Düsseldorf. He exhibited for the first time at the Deutsche Kunstausstellung, in Cologne in 1906.[1] He was impressed by the sculptures ofAuguste Rodin, and traveled to England, Italy, the Netherlands, and Paris. In 1907, he married Anita Kaufmann, and they had three sons.
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In 1912, Lehmbruck exhibited in theFolkwang Museum in Hagen, withEgon Schiele.[2] In 1914, he had his first solo exhibition in Paris, at the Galerie Levesque.[3] He contributed to an exhibition at the Grand Palais inParis. From 1910–1914 he lived in Paris. He frequented theCafé du Dôme,[4] where he met sculptors such asModigliani,Brâncuși, andArchipenko.[5]
DuringWorld War I he served as aparamedic at a military hospital in Berlin. The suffering and misery he saw there are reflected in his late sculptures such asFallen Man (1915–16).[6] He suffered from severedepression and fled the war by going toZürich at the end of 1916. There he made contact with the socialist, L. Rubiner, who collaborated onFranz Pfemfert'sDie Aktion.[7] He was elected to thePrussian Academy of Arts in Berlin in early 1919. After the war, he returned toBerlin where he committedsuicide on 25 March 1919.
Lehmbruck's sculptures mostly concentrate on the human body and are influenced byNaturalism andExpressionism. His works, including female nudes, are marked by a sense of melancholy and an elongation of form common toGothic architecture.
Throughout his career, architectLudwig Mies van der Rohe placed his friend Lehmbruck's sculptures and those ofAristide Maillol into his buildings and designs.[8]
TheLehmbruck Museum (Duisburg, Germany) has in its collection about 100 sculptures, 40 paintings, 900 drawings and 200 graphical works by Wilhelm Lehmbruck. The museum, named after Wilhelm Lehmbruck, was originally designed by his son,Manfred Lehmbruck (1913–1992).[9]
TheHonolulu Museum of Art,[10] theMuseum of Modern Art (New York City), theNational Gallery of Art (Washington D.C.),Städel Museum (Frankfurt, Germany), theNeue Nationalgalerie (Berlin, Germany) and theTate Gallery (London, England) are among the public collections holding works by Wilhelm Lehmbruck. One of his sculptures can be seen in theVilla Tugendhat.[11]
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