Ernst LIEBERMANN (Langemüss 1869 – Beuerberg 1960)

German painter, graphic designer and illustrator, Liebermann studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Berlin under the guidance of Josef Scheurenberg from 1890 to 1893, the year in which he won the Academy’s gold medal. After several study trips to Germany, Italy and a longer stay in Paris, he worked mainly in Langemüss and from 1897 in Munich, where he dedicated himself mainly to graphics (lithographs of landscapes and cities), and to the illustration of books and magazines – among many, we remember the particularly appreciated illustrations of the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm – to then moved on to painting. He mainly created portraits, interiors, female figures and landscapes. Influenced by both Romanticism and Impressionism, his works are characterized by loose brushstrokes and dramatic lighting, with warm earthy colors. At the end of the 20th century Liebermann painted the frescoes on the ceiling of the church of Kirchheim in Thuringia. Initially a member of the Luitpoldgruppe of Munich, after 1907 – the year in which he was awarded the title of professor – he moved to the Neue Münchner Künstlergruppe. The exhibition activity in the following years was very intense. After the First World War, his paintings were embraced by the National Socialist conception of art for the promotion of traditional family values. He is represented several times at the main German art exhibitions held at the Haus der Kunst in Munich. In 1943, Liebermann’s atelier in Munich was bombed and numerous of his works were destroyed.

MUSEUMS

Berlin, Deutsches Historisches Museum
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen
Jena, University – Conference room of the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
Rosenheim, Städtischen Galerie