Josef Hegenbarth

(Kamnitz (Böhmen) 1884 - 1962 Dresden)

"I can't talk with words, I talk with brush and pen." With a few lines and contours Hegenbarth succeeded in capturing the type of a person. From 1950 on, he often painted them in one go without setting down the pen or brush. He took his motifs from the everyday world, which he found in his adopted home of Dresden from 1905. He also excelled as an illustrator of literary works. In addition to cafés and street scenes, animals in circuses and zoos were also popular subjects. (EW)

LITERATURE: - Fritz Löffler, Josef Hegenbarth, Verlag der Kunst Dresden, 1980. - Josef Hegenbarth. Spectators of Life. Works from 1915 to 1962 in the Graphic Cabinet of the Staatliche Galerie Moritzburg Halle, ed. by Bärbel Zausch, Halle (Saale) 1996.

Vita

1884
born in Böhmisch-Kamnitz
1905
relocation to Dresden
1905 - 1908
Artistic activity under the guidance of his cousin Emanuel Hegenbarth, animal painter
1908 - 1915
Attendance at the Dresden Academy of Art
1913
first etchings
1914
first solo exhibition in Dresden
1915
freelance artist in Dresden
1917 - 1919
stay in Prague, concentration on etchings and drawings
1919
returns to Dresden, studio at the artist's house in Loschwitz
1920 - 1936
participation in the exhibitions of the German Artists' Association, then again as of 1951
1925
focus on oil painting
1926
member of the Vienna Secession
1936
marriage to Johanna Aster (1897-1988)
defamation in NS weekly newspaper
1943 - 1945
stay in Bohemian-Kamnica; loss of a large part of the life's work
1945
returns to Dresden
collaboration on the magazine "Ulenspiegel"
1947 - 1949
professorship at the Academy of Fine Arts in Dresden
1952
numerous exhibitions, e.g. Kunsthalle Bremen, Kunstverein Karlsruhe, 2nd exhibition of the German Artists' Association, Dresden Book Art Exhibition Leipzig
1954
receives the National Award of the GDR
Ausstellungen in Staatlichen Kunstsammlungen Dressden, Kunsthalle Mannheim, Wilhelm-Busch-Museum Hannover
1955
Korrespondierendes Mitglied der Deutschen Akademie der Künste Berlin
1956
Außerordentliches Mitglied der Akademie der Künste Berlin-Dahlem
1957
Rückgabe eines Teils des Lebenswerkes durch die Regierung der Tschechoslowakischen Republik
Mitherausgeber der Zeitschrift Kunst und Kirche
1958
Preis für Bildende Kunst des Verbandes der Deutschen Kritiker e.V. Westberlin
1960
Mitglied der Akademie der Schönen Künste in München
1962
gestorben in Dresden