Ernst Klinger (German 1900-1962)
Klinger was a leading member of the 20th Century Munich School. Following his studies at the Münchner Akademie during 1919-1924, Klinger became an adherent of 'Die Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity). This Expressionist movement, founded in Germany in the aftermath of World War I by George Grosz and Otto Dix, combined a realistic style with a cynical and socially critical philosophical stance.
Klinger's New Objectivity works are stylistically characterised by a simplified composition, sharp outlines and a thin, dry use of oil paints. He combines isolated motives in an interaction that adds an allegorical narrative to the scene depicted.
Many of Klinger's New Objectivity works, painted in Paris and Mallorca during 1925-1927, were destroyed during the Second World War. Among the few surviving works in this style is the painting acquired by the StGalerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich in 1928. During 1927-1931 Klinger travelled regularly to Positano and Mallorca where he left a few works to survive the destruction of the War. In 1929, Klinger joined the Juryfreien, an organisation banned by the Nationalsozialisten in 1934. In 1939 Klinger moved to New York and gradually progressed to Abstraction. His abstract works from the 1940s and 1950s are lyrical in style and burst with colour.
LITERATURE:
Wolfgang AUGUSTYN. Ernst Klinger 1900 - 1962, Munich, 1997.
Bibliography
Wolfgang AUGUSTYN, Ernst Klinger 1900 - 1962, Munchen, 1997