Ludwig Meidner

Ludwig Meidner

Ludwig Meidner ( Bernstadt, Silesia, 18 April 1884 – Darmstadt, 14 May1966) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker. He was apprenticed to a stonemason, but the apprenticeship was not completed. He studied at the Royal School of Art in Breslau and, from 1906-07 at the Julien and Cormon Academies in Paris where he met and became friends with Amedeo Modigliani. He returned to Berlin to work as a fashion illustrator and produced realistic if uninspired views of Berlin.

In 1912 he began a series of paintings which marked a radical departure in style and would make his reputation. The "Apocalyptic Landscapes" anticipate the horrors of the first world war by several years. The series, produced rapidly in a hectic heatwave, are some of the purest "expressionist" works, portraying the terror of the modern city in catastrophic setings; comets cross the sky like canon shells, fires rage, men scream and flee for their lives, buildings totter on the edge of collapse. Meidner would however never repeat the intensity and creativity of the apocalyptic landscapes.

After the first world war his art turns to producing religious paintings including a long and repetitive series of portraits of "prophets". He is a habitual self portraitist producing a remarkable series of Rembrandt inspired self portraits that provide a vivid illustration to his passing years. His portraits from 1915 to the end of the 1920s are a gallery of the leading expressionist and Dada writers and poets. Meidner himself increasingly turned to writing - he produced several books of dense expressionist prose and contributed to many newspaper articles.

In 1939 he fled with his family to England (his wife Else Meidner was also an artist) where he was interned as an enemy alien on Isle of Man. He stayed in England, unrecognised, working in odd jobs until 1953 when he returned to Germany. In 1963 he had his first major exhibition since 1918 in Recklinghausen and Berlin. He died on 14th May 1966 in Darmstadt, aged 82.

References

* Eliel, Carol S. , "The Apocalyptic Landscapes of Ludwig Meidner", Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1989.
* Meidner, Ludwig, "Ludwig Meidner, An Expressionist Master", Ann Arbor, Michigan, The Museum, 1978.


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  • Ludwig Meidner — (* 18. April 1884 in Bernstadt an der Weide (Schlesien); † 14. Mai 1966 in Darmstadt) war ein deutscher Maler des Expressionismus sowie Dichter und Grafiker. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Leben 2 Werke (Auswahl) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Ludwig Meidner — (Bernstadt, Silésie 18 avril 1884 Darmstadt 14 mai 1966) est un peintre et graveur expressioniste juif allemand. Il fit ses études à Breslau avant de s installer en 1905 à Berlin. De 1906 à 1907, il reprend des études à Paris où il fréquente l… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Ludwig Meidner — (Bernstadt, Silesia, 18 de abril de 1884 Darmstadt, 14 de mayo de 1966) fue un pintor expresionista alemán, adscrito a la Nueva Objetividad. Trabajó como albañil, estudiando arte en Breslau (1903 1905). Entre 1906 y 1907 residió en París, donde… …   Wikipedia Español

  • MEIDNER, LUDWIG — (1884–1966), German painter. Meidner was born in Bernstadt, in Silesia. At 19, he went to Breslau to study art. For a time he eked out a living in Berlin, sketching for fashion magazines, but in 1906–08 studied in Paris. In 1908 he returned to… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Meidner — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Else Meidner (1901–1987), deutsche Grafikerin und Malerin Ludwig Meidner (1884–1966), deutscher Maler des Expressionismus, Dichter und Grafiker Rudolf Meidner (1914–2005), schwedischer Ökonom, deutscher… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Meidner — Meider may refer to: Ludwig Meidner (1884 1966), a Jewish German expressionist painter and printmaker Else Meidner, née Meyer (1901 1987), a Jewish German painter, wife of Ludwig Meidner Rudolf Alfred Meidner (1914, Breslau 2005, Lidingö), a… …   Wikipedia

  • Meidner — Meidner,   Ludwig, Maler, Grafiker und Schriftsteller, * Bernstadt in Schlesien 18. 4. 1884, ✝ Darmstadt 14. 5. 1966; ausgebildet in Breslau (1903 05) und Paris (1906 07), wo er A. Modigliani begegnete. 1919 35 war er in Berlin tätig (Mitglied… …   Universal-Lexikon

  • Else Meidner — Else Meidner, geb. Meyer (* 2. September 1901 in Berlin; † 5. Mai 1987 in London) war eine deutsche Grafikerin und Malerin. Leben Else Meidner entstammt einer wohlhabenden jüdischen Familie. Gegen den Widerstand der Eltern entscheidet sie sich… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Else Meidner — (1901 1987) (nee Meyer) was a German Jewish painter. She was married to the artist Ludwig Meidner. She also painted in the expressionist style.External links*http://www.jewishmuseum.de/meidner.html …   Wikipedia

  • Meidner, Ludwig —    см. Майднер, Людвиг …   Энциклопедический словарь экспрессионизма

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