- Rudolf Schlichter
Rudolf Schlichter (
December 6 ,1890 –May 3 ,1955 ) was a German artist considered to be one of the most important representatives of the "Neue Sachlichkeit" (New Objectivity ) movement.Schlichter was born in
Calw , Württemberg. After an apprenticeship as an enamel painter at aPforzheim factory he attended the School of Arts and Crafts inStuttgart . He subsequently studied underHans Thoma andWilhelm Trübner at the Academy inKarlsruhe . Called for military service inWorld War I , he carried out ahunger strike to secure early release, and in 1919 he moved toBerlin where he joined theGerman Communist Party and the "November" group. [Michalski, 1994, p. 217] He took part in aDada fair in 1920 and also worked as an illustrator for several periodicals.A major work from this period is his "Dada Roof Studio", a
watercolor showing an assortment of figures on an urban rooftop. Around a table sit a woman and two men in top hats. One of the men has a prosthetic hand and the other, also missing a hand, appears on closer scrutiny to be mannequin. Two other figures in gas masks may also be mannequins. A child holds a pail and a woman wearing high button shoes (for which Schlichter displayed a marked fetish) [Michalski, 1994, p. 30] stands on a pedestal, gesturing inexplicably.In 1925 Schlichter participated in the "Neue Sachlichkeit" exhibit at the
Mannheim Kunsthalle. His work from this period is realistic, a good example being the "Portrait of Margot" (1924) now in the Berlin Märkisches Museum. It depicts a prostitute who often modeled for Schlichter, standing on a deserted street and holding a cigarette.When
Adolf Hitler took power, bringing to an end theWeimar period , his activities were greatly curtailed. In 1935 he returned to Stuttgart, and four years later to Munich. In 1937 his works were seized asdegenerate art , and in 1939 theNazi authorities banned him from exhibiting. His studio was destroyed by Allied bombs in 1942.At the war's end, Schlichter resumed exhibiting works which were now surrealistic in character. He died in
Munich in 1955.Notes
References
*Michalski, Sergiusz (1994). "New Objectivity". Cologne: Benedikt Taschen. ISBN 3-8228-9650-0
*Schmied, Wieland (1978). "Neue Sachlichkeit and German Realism of the Twenties". London: Arts Council of Great Britain. ISBN 0-7287-0184-7
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