Paul Weber was one of the most prominent lithographers, draughtsmen and painters in Germany. Surviving two world wars, the artist left behind an extensive oeuvre of critical and satirical works, some of which also revealed nationalist and anti-Semitic tendencies.
(...) Continue readingPaul Weber - Wandervogel, commercial artist and war caricaturist
Heinrich Andreas Paul Weber was born in Arnstadt on 1st November 1893. He spent his childhood in the small Thuringian town, where his father had found a job on the railway. Young Paul received artistic encouragement from his mother and his grandfather, the factory owner Christian Kortmann, who was also based in Arnstadt. After attending secondary school in the town, he only spent a short time at the arts and crafts school in Erfurt before joining the Jung-Wandervogel escapist movement in 1908, with which middle-class teenagers and young adults attempted to escape the authoritarian constraints of the time. They did this by taking extended hikes through the wild countryside, where Weber not only developed a deep affinity with nature, but also nationalistic tendencies. During this time, he earned his living as a commercial artist and taught himself lithography, but also benefited from his talent for drawing when he was called up for military service during the First World War where he produced caricatures for the magazine of the 10th Army.
Artistic success, anti-Semitism and war propaganda
After the war, Paul Weber married Toni Klander, with whom he had five children. His son Christian later supported him in the creation of signets and advertising graphics. As a draughtsman and lithographer, the artist worked mainly for satirical publications and also designed numerous book illustrations, including for Till Eulenspiegel, Reineke Fuchs and Hans Sachs, whilst the lithograph The Rumour achieved particular fame. There is also evidence of his authorship of several anti-Semitic drawings, although supporters and critics of the artist still argue to this day about the extent to which conclusions can be drawn about Paul Weber's actual views from these commissioned works. One of the questionable illustrations is the cover for the anti-Semitic novel Sünde wider das Blut (Sin Against Blood) by the bestselling nationalist author Artur Dinter, who is considered one of the spiritual fathers of the Nuremberg Race Laws. Although series such as Leviathan and Britishe Bilder (British Pictures) are sometimes categorised as war propaganda, it is undisputed that Paul Weber was considered an opponent of Hitler and was detained by the Gestapo for a time.
International recognition and lively exhibition activity
After the war, Paul Weber lived in Schretstaken, where the Griffelkunst-Vereinigung Hamburg, for which he had already worked successfully during the war years, supported him financially with the A. Paul Weber Circle, which was founded specifically for this purpose. Weber enjoyed increasing artistic success, contributed to the weekly magazine Simplicissimus, and took part in several international exhibitions. Paul Weber received prizes and honours for his work, including the Schleswig-Holstein Art Prize in 1955, the Ludwig Thoma Medal in 1963, the Joseph E. Drexel Prize in 1966 and the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1972. The latter was presented to the artist by Federal President Gustav Heinemann, who himself was a recognised admirer of Weber's work. In 1993, the German Federal Post Office honoured Weber with the 100 pfennig Publikum stamp as part of its German Painting of the 20th Century stamp series.
Paul Weber died on 9th November 1980 in Schretstaken bei Mölln in Schleswig-Holstein.
Paul Weber - Works that have already been sold at Kunsthaus Lempertz:
