Wilhelm Lachnit (12 November 1899,Gittersee [de], nearDresden — 14 November 1962, Dresden) was a German painter who was primarily active in Dresden.
Lachnit was born in the small town of Gittersee; his family moved to Dresden in 1906. He studied at theKunstgewerbeschule Dresden underRichard Guhr, and later at theDresden Academy of Fine Arts, where he was acquainted with and influenced byOtto Dix,Conrad Felixmüller, andOtto Griebel. He joined theCommunist Party of Germany in 1924 and was active in producing various forms ofAgitprop throughout the 1920s. He co-founded the "Neue Gruppe" withHans Grundig, Otto Griebel, andFritz Skade; successful exhibitions in Paris, Düsseldorf, Amsterdam, and Dresden followed.
After theNazis seized power in 1933, Lachnit's work was declared "degenerate" and confiscated by authorities. During this period he was not allowed to make art and worked as an exhibition designer. Much of his confiscated work was destroyed during the February 1945firebombing of Dresden. His 1923 watercoloursMan and Woman in the Window and "Girl at Table" were found in theMunich Art Hoard.[1][2]
Lachnit continued to paint after the end ofWorld War II. In 1947 he was appointed professor at the Hochschule für Bildene Künste Dresden. Among his more important students wereJürgen Böttcher,Manfred Böttcher, andHarald Metzkes.
Lachnit died of aheart attack in 1962 and was buried inLoschwitzer Friedhof in Dresden.
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