Alfred Lichtwark

Alfred Lichtwark

Alfred Lichtwark in 1899. Photograph by Rudolf Dührkoop.
Born (1852-11-14)November 14, 1852
Hamburg-Reitbrook, Germany
Died January 13, 1914(1914-01-13) (aged 61)
Hamburg, Germany
Residence Hamburg, Germany
Academic background
Alma mater Christianeum, Altona, Hamburg, Germany
Academic work
Main interests Museum education,
Art education

Alfred Lichtwark (November 14, 1852 – January 13, 1914) was a German art historian, museum curator, and art educator in Hamburg. He is one of the founders of museum education and the art education movement.

Background and career

Front Dike 9, Hamburg-Reitbrook, Lichtwark's birthplace.

Alfred Lichtwark was the son of Johann Karl Ernst Lichtwark, a miller who owned the Reitbrook Mill. From his father's first marriage he had three half-siblings. Alfred Lichtwark's mother Johanne Helene Henrietta (née Bach) (1829–1909) was believed to be a direct descendant of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Lichtwark had a happy childhood in the countryside with his siblings Hans and Marianne (1857–1930) until 1858, when his father was forced to sell the mill for financial reasons. The family moved to Hamburg, where his father ran an inn which fared poorly, and the family lived in poverty. Lichtwark, who attended the civil school, proved to be very talented and versatile, helping students after school as an assistant teacher. In 1873 he took the Abitur at the Christianeum in Altona. A grant by Justus Brinckmann helped finance his studies in arts and education in Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin. After finishing his studies he worked at several primary and civil schools in Berlin. Lichtwark was very disenchanted with the educational system that existed at that time in Imperial Germany, which led him to the idea of a new kind of school or pedagogy.

Director of the Kunsthalle Hamburg

A portrait of Alfred Lichtwark, painted by Leopold Karl Walter Graf von Kalckreuth, 1912.

It is unclear why Lichtwark was asked in 1886 whether he wanted to take over as the director of the Kunsthalle Hamburg (an art museum in Hamburg), which was previously managed only by a member of the Senate. He became the first director of the Kunsthalle Hamburg on December 3, 1886, after which he systematically developed its collection. The current collection is still largely based on the foundations set by Lichtwark.

Lichtwark collected Hamburg's medieval art (especially the works of Master Bertram and Master Francke) on the one hand, and also sought and acquired works of German romantics on the other hand (Caspar David Friedrich, Philipp Otto Runge). He also collected the works of contemporary artists of the late 19th century such as Lovis Corinth, Wilhelm Leibl, Adolph Menzel, Pierre Bonnard, and Édouard Vuillard.

With the museum's busy purchasing practices and his intense public relations work, Lichtwark succeeded in broadening the understanding of the then-contemporary art. In addition to his heavy interest in French Impressionism, he advocated strongly for the Hamburg art scene. He initiated the establishment of the Hamburgischer Künstlerklub and awarded contracts to painters such as Gotthardt Kuehl and Wilhelm Trübner. His aim of creating an artistic monument for his hometown of Hamburg led to contracts with painters such as Max Liebermann and Theodor Hagen, from whom he received several harbor pictures. During his tenure Lichtwark undertook several trips to Dresden, Weimar, Frankfurt, Geneva, Paris, London, and Stockholm, where he looked for numerous art motifs. He also brought back the Grabow Altarpiece of Master Bertram, which used to be the altar of St. Peter's Church in Hamburg, from the church in Grabow back to Hamburg. This was first displayed in 1906 at the Kunsthalle Hamburg.

Lichtwark criticized the class divisions in German society and other parts of Europe during that time. His educational ideas eventually led to the founding of the Lichtwark school, an educational reform school in Hamburg-Winterhude.

He led exercises on the contemplation of works of art in which he systematically discussed his museum's artworks with students. He published the resultant findings in several papers and books. He is thus one of the founders of the field of museum education.

Alfred Lichtwark was a friend of Max Liebermann, Hans Olde, and Max Predöhl, mayor of Hamburg, and a supporter of Count Harry Kessler.

The founding and design of the Hamburg Museum, as well as art education for young children, were results of his initiative. In 1896 he opened an exhibition in the Kunsthalle Hamburg on the topic of how children think and paint.

Lichtwark remained the director of the Kunsthalle Hamburg until his death in 1914. He died of stomach cancer and was buried in the Old Hamburg Memorial Cemetery, part of the Ohlsdorf Cemetery. His successor at the museum was Gustav Pauli.

Lichtwark Prize

The Lichtwark Prize was started in 1951 by the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Alfred Lichtwark.[1] It is awarded every five years to a painter, draftsman, or sculptor whose works have produced a significant impact in the world of visual arts.

Honors

The following are named after Alfred Lichtwark:

Quotations

Works

Notes

  1. ↑ Press archive at hamburg.de
  2. ↑ Reiner Lehberger: Die Lichtwarkschule in Hamburg. Hamburg, 1996; pp. 5.
  3. ↑ www.lichtwarkhaus.de

References

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