Forbidden to paint by the Nazis, Nolde's reputation and works ultimately triumphed following the end of World War II.
Born August 7, 1867 on a farm near the German-Danish border, Emil Nolde initially worked as a furniture woodcarver and taught himself to paint. He was able to take formal art instruction in Munich and later went to Paris to further his studies. Tending toward Impressionism at first, after 1900 Nolde’s work began to show influences of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch, deepening his colors and loosening his brushstrokes.
Diverse Influences
Nolde was included in the 1905 Berlin Secession exhibit and he also joined a Dresden-based Expressionist art group known as Die Brücke, or The Bridge. Nolde was not a Bridge member for long, since his tendency towards melancholy did not work well with artistic societies, but his introspection did help him to find intense inspiration. By now, elements of fantasy and mysticism had become common themes for Nolde, as well as boldly-toned portraits of saints done in a style he called “blood and soil.” He also excelled in printmaking and woodcuts. Hoping to create a new direction in German art, Nolde was a founder of the 1911 New Secession movement, and in 1913 he and his wife took an extended tour of Russia, Asia, and the South Sea islands, encountering many diverse artistic elements along the way.
Nolde’s distinct style was well-received in the more liberal and liberated Germany of the 1920s, and he initially was a follower of the Nazi Party. By 1937, however, his allegiance came back to spite him, as he had been declared a degenerate by the Nazi regime and was soon forbidden to paint or exhibit. Nolde also underwent an operation for stomach cancer around this time, and while recuperating in Switzerland met fellow artist Paul Klee, whom Nolde described as “a falcon soaring in the starry cosmos.”
“Unpainted Pictures” and Ultimate Comeback
Nolde kept a low profile during the later years of the Third Reich, but he surreptitiously worked in his Berlin studio on numerous paintings -- particularly botanical and flower studies. The studio was set up so that all artwork, easels and supplies could be quickly hidden from view in a secret area. He called these small yet brilliantly-colored works “Unpainted Pictures,” and they were exhibited after World War II.
Through the remainder of his life, Nolde would see his reputation restored and he would ultimately receive the German Order of Merit. Although the Nazis had cancelled any formal acknowledgment of his seventieth birthday in 1937, by 1947 his eightieth year was marked by several honorary exhibits. Nolde continued painting watercolors almost up until his death in 1956, and his works can be found in many museums world-wide, particularly The Emil Nolde Museum in Seebul, Germany, housed in a building designed by Nolde himself.
Sources
- Artchive - Emile Nolde
- Nolde Flower Paintings (Dover Publications, Inc., 2004)
- Emile Nolde - Answers.com
