Alfred Zwiebel

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Alfred Zwiebel (November 6,1914 - February 25, 2005) was a German-American landscape, floral, and still-life painter.

Early Life

He was born in Fürth, in southern Germany, but when he was four, his family moved to the city of Bamberg, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its medieval cathedral and many other gems of art and architecture from the Middle Ages, Renaissance, and Baroque. It was there that he spent his childhood and youth, and the beauty of that city and its surrounding area inspired him from his boyhood to the end of his life.

Soon after the Nazis came to power, Zwiebel and his family left Germany; while he and his siblings were raised as Lutherans by their mother, his father was Jewish as well as politically active against the Nazis. In 1935, Zwiebel immigrated to the United States, living first in Milwaukee and then settling in New York City, where he married and had a daughter. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II and became an American citizen in 1944. For the next 20 years he worked at a variety of "day jobs," painting in whatever free time he had. Among other things, he worked as a baker, ski salesman, and commercial artist. From 1949-1953, he was also a radio personality in New York City, where he had a weekly program, "Music From Alfred Zwiebel's Collection," on station WABF [http://www.jjonz.us/RadioLogs/pagesnfiles/logs_files/1950s/1952/52_10Oct/%5Bn%5D52-10-22-(Wed).pdf.] , playing opera and classical music recordings from his own extensive collection (opera was another of his lifelong passions).

Artistic Career

By the 1960s, he was able to devote himself to painting full-time. In the ensuing decades, his work was shown in galleries and museums across the United States, as well as in Canada, England, Austria and his native Germany, where he achieved particular critical acclaim. When in 1977 Countess and Count Lennart Bernadotte opened a public art gallery in their castle on Mainau Island, a popular tourist site on Lake Constance (Bodensee) because of its spectacular gardens, Zwiebel was invited to give the inaugural exhibition. He was also invited by the city of Bamberg to give an exhibition as part of the city's 1,000th-anniversary celebration in 1973 and to take part in the special exhibition marking the 975th anniversary of the Bamberg Cathedral in 1987. Two of his works are represented in the catalog of that exhibition, "Symbol-Object-Motif: The Bamberg Cathedral and its Representation in Painting, Graphics and Other Art Forms from the Middle Ages to the Present." [Hennig, Lothar, "Symbol-Objekt-Motiv: Der Bamberger Dom und seine Darstellungen in Malerei, Graphik und Kunsthandwerk vom Mittelalter bis in die Gegenwart"; Schriften des Historischen Museums Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany, 1987, pp. 302-303, 345.]

In 1993, the Bamberg Historical Museum, which also owns two of his works, gave a major retrospective exhibition of his work. ["IMPRESSIONS 1967-1993: The Painting of Alfred Zwiebel, New York" ("IMPRESSIONEN 1967-1993: Malerei von Alfred Zwiebel, New York")]

Exhibitions

Museums:
*1993, Historisches Museum Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany, Solo Exhibition
*1987, Historisches Museum Bamberg
*1962, The Parrish Museum, Southampton, New York
*(year unknown) Heckscher Museum of Art, Huntington, New York

Galleries:

*1968, Galerie Schumacher, Munich, Germany, Solo Exhibition
*1970, Pottenstein Castle, Pottenstein, Germany
*1971, Livingston Gallery, New York, NY
*1972, Provincetown Gallery, New York, NY, Solo Exhibition
*1973, Galerie Rauh, Bamberg, Germany, Solo Exhibition
*1974, Provincetown Gallery, New York, NY, Solo Exhibition
*1977, Mainau Castle, Mainau Island, Germany, Solo Exhibition
*1979, Galerie in der Kreissparkasse, Lichtenfels (Bavaria), Germany, Solo Exhibition
*1980, Antiquariat Heinemann, Starnberg, Germany, Solo Exhibition
*1992, Mary Anthony Fine Art Gallery, New Hope, Pennsylvania, Solo Exhibition
*(year unknown) Posthotel Pegnitz, Pegnitz, Germany, Solo Exhibition
*(year unknown) Bloomfield College, Bloomfield, New Jersey
*(year unknown) Robbins Gallery, South Orange, New Jersey
*(year unknown) Randall Gallery, New York, NY
*(year unknown) Emile Walter Gallery, Vancouver, Canada
*(year unknown) Guildhall, London, England
*(year unknown) Galerie Welz, Salzburg, Austria

Work

Zwiebel worked in oil, pastel and oil-pastel (also called oilstick). He was particularly known for the vibrancy of his palette, as evidenced, for example, in the following press review (entitled "Optimism Expressed in Color"):"Color is the most important element in this artist's paintings; forms are reduced to a minimum, though they remain recognizable. This manner of painting embodies a positive and optimistic outlook: The clouds above Lake Starnberg cannot completely hide the sun; plays of color give voice to the certitude that even the most stubborn periods of bad weather will eventually end. The Bamberg Cathedral, one of the painter's favorite subjects, conveys life and warmth even in a blizzard; a "landscape in the fog" doesn't disappear into the mist, but remains a landscape from which the fog will soon lift. In his flower paintings, the artist is less interested in painting flowers as such; rather, he transforms a bouquet into a fantasy of light and color." Angelika Herrmann,"Alfred Zwiebel aus New York zeigt: Optimismus, der sich in Farben ausdrückt, Ausstellung im Antiquariat Heinemann in Starnberg," "Starnberger-Merkur" [?] , Starnberg, Germany, 1980. The original German text reads: "Die Farben sind tatsächlich das Wichtigste an den Bildern des Künstlers, die Formen sind auf ein Mindestmaß zurückgeführt, wenn auch noch erkennbar. Hinter dieser Art zu malen verbirgt sind [sic] eine positive und optimistische Grundhaltung: Die Wolken über dem Starnberger See können die Sonne nicht ganz verbergen, Farbspielereien geben der Gewißheit Ausdruck, daß auch die hartnäckigste Schlechtwetterperiode einmal ein Ende hat. Der Bamberger Dom, eine der Lieblingsmotive des Malers, vermittelt noch im Schneetreiben einen lebendigen und warmen Eindruck, die "Landschaft im Nebel" ertrinkt nicht darin, sondern bleibt Landschaft, der Nebel wird sich bald heben. In den Blumenbildern zeigt der Künstler weniger Interesse an den Blumen, er wandelt den Strauß vielmehr in eine Licht- und Farbenphantasie um."]

tyle and Influences

Zwiebel was artistically somewhat out of sync with many of the artists of his own and subsequent generations, as he rejected and felt alienated by much of 20th-century modernism, particularly Abstract Expressionism. He felt the deepest affinity for Impressionism. The individual artists by whom he was most strongly influenced were Claude Monet (like Monet, he was fascinated by water lilies and made a great number of paintings of them), Camille Pissarro, Vincent van Gogh, and, in his flower paintings, Odilon Redon. When asked to which stylistic movement he felt he most belonged, he replied, "An artist must be free to work in whatever style the moment calls for, but if anything, I would call myself a modern impressionist." ("Ein Künstler muß frei sein und arbeiten, wie der Moment es verlangt. Wenn überhaupt, dann nenne ich mich einen modernen Impressionisten.")

Although some of his paintings are more post-impressionistic or even expressionistic in style, most art critics who reviewed his work also called him an Impressionist:"Zwiebel is an 'admitted romanticist' and adds he's quite proud of this fact. Many of his canvases have the lyrical beauty of the French Impressionists. Looking over the walls of the Zwiebel home, soft pastels shimmer about. Paintings of a Long Island pond, a cabbage patch in Scarsdale, have much of the beauty of the great landscapes of Monet and Pissarro." [William A. Raidy, "'Ape and Worm' School of Painting Appalls Long Island Artist," "Long Island Sunday Press", New York, Second News Section, November 9, 1958.]

"Zwiebel has a capacity of feeling as turbulent as van Gogh, as soft as Turner, and as impressionistic as Monet." ["Aus Münchner Galerien/Prominenz bei Schumacher," "Süddeutsche Zeitung", Munich, Germany, 16. Januar 1968. The original German text reads: "Zwiebel hat die Fähigkeit, gleichzeitig so wild wie van Gogh, so weich wie Turner und so impressionistisch wie Monet zu empfinden."] "Alfred Zwiebel uses the impressionistic technique with all its wealth of light, nuanced play of color, and open palette, and this breathes life into what he paints. ... One could call Zwiebel a belated Pissarro, but with the caveat that he is a Pissarro for contemporary eyes." ["Zwiebel-Ausstellung bei Schumacher," "Die Abendzeitung", Munich, Germany, 9. Januar 1968. p.7. The original German text reads: "Alfred Zwiebel bedient sich der impressionistischen Technik, mit allen Möglichkeiten der Lichtfülle, des nuancierten Farbenspiels und der offenen Palette. So bringt er Leben in die Darstellung... Man könnte Zwiebel einen verspäteten Pissarro nennen, jedoch mit dem Beding, daß er ein Pissarro für heutige Augen ist. Chri."]

"Zwiebel, whose models have always been the great Impressionists, has intentionally remained apart from the 'Moderns'... He stayed with Impressionism. But he has achieved, as the paintings exhibited here prove, mastery in this style. His landscapes are imbued with life; his flower still lifes have an almost tropical opulence of colors and forms. To view these works gives one great pleasure." [Karl Lemke, "Sonderausstellung Alfred Zwiebel," "Münchner Jüdische Nachrichten", Munich, Germany, 12. Januar 1968, p.2, Nr.2. The original German text reads: "Zwiebel, dessen Vorbilder stets die großen Impressionisten waren, hält sich bewußt abseits der 'Moderne' ... Er blieb beim Impressionismus. Hier aber erreichte er, wie die ausgestellten Werke beweisen, Meisterschaft. Seine Landschaften sind von eindringlicher Lebendigkeit, seine Blumenstilleben zuweilen von einer fast tropischen Üppigkeit der Farben und Formen. Man verweilt vor ihnen mit Freude."]

Later Years and Death

Zwiebel continued to paint until the end of his life, although in his later years he had to struggle with failing eyesight and progressive Alzheimer's disease. His last work was an attempt at a bouquet of flowers in oil-pastel made in his hospital bed in New York City a few days before he died of pneumonia at the age of 90.

Notes

External Links

* [http://www.arthistoryarchive.com/arthistory/glossary/Painters-by-Nationality.html Painters of the World by Nationality - The Art History Archive] (see under "American Painters")
* [http://www.askart.com/AskART/studio/studio.aspx?Studio=11161067 AskART - Art Prices, Art Appraisals, Art Value, Auction Prices]
* [http://www.p4a.com/itemsummary/76620.htm Zwiebel, Alfred; Pastel on Linen, signed, Still Life with Vase of Flowers. [p4a.com, ltd.]
* [http://www.letrianonantiques.com/letrianon/newitem.aspx?itemid=905&itmtyp=2 Alfred Zwiebel, "Water Lilies," Oil on Board]
* [http://www.goantiques.com/detail,oil-canvas-alfred,1478323.html Oil on Canvas by Alfred Zwiebel, "Impressionistic French Scene" , In the]
* [http://www.goantiques.com/detail,oil-board-alfred,1491774.html Oil on Board by Alfred Zwiebel, "French Country Scene", in the Manner of]
* [http://www.87start.com/artistindex.html 87th Street Art: Artist Index]