Pretzfeld Castle Curt Herrmann

• Curt Herrmann is regarded as one of the most important German representatives of Neo-Impressionism • He organised the first exhibitions of the Neo-Impressionists at Paul Cassirer’s gallery in Germany • The park at Pretzfeld Castle is one of his best-known subjects Curt Herrmann trained in Carl Steffeck’s studio in Berlin and in Munich under the history painter Wilhelm von Lindenschmid. In 1893, he opened a school of painting and drawing for women in Berlin. Herrmann was firmly established in Berlin’s art scene; in 1898, he was a founding member and board member of the Berlin Secession; from 1902, he was active in the German Artists’ Association; in 1914, he took part in the split that led to the formation of the Free Secession, becoming its president in 1918. In 1917, he was awarded the title of professor. In 1897, Curt Herrmann married his painting student Sophie Herz. She was the daughter of a wealthy banking family and henceforth provided the painter with financial independence. On their honeymoon to Paris and Brussels, the Herrmanns met the Belgian artist Henry van de Velde, who became a lifelong friend. Through him, Herrmann came into contact with the contemporary French art scene of the Neo-Impressionists centred around Georges Seurat, Henri Edmond Cross, Maximilian Luce and Paul Signac. He collected their works and organised the first Neo-Impressionist exhibitions in Germany, which were shown in 1902–03 in Paul Cassirer’s galleries in Hamburg and Berlin. In his own painting, too, he underwent a marked stylistic shift, increasingly using only pure colours, which he arranged side by side in small dots, later in long, parallel strokes, and then in ever freer brushstrokes. Herrmann maintained a close friendship with Signac for many years; they exchanged their own works and helped each other secure contacts and sales. Through Signac, Herrmann was able to exhibit at the Salon des Indépendants in Paris from 1905 to 1907 and, from 1908, at the Salon d’Automne. In March 1907, Signac wrote to Herrmann regarding the Indépendants exhibition: ‘(...) Your paintings arrived in good time (...). They are also hanging in a really good spot, next to (Henri Edmond) Cross. Your beautiful paintings, so soft and colourful, look magnificent and are attracting a great deal of attention. Please accept my warmest congratulations (...)". Curt Herrmann spent a great deal of time at Pretzfeld Castle in Upper Franconia, which his wife Sophie Herz’s grandfather, the merchant Josef Kohn (1810–1885), had acquired as early as 1852. The castle and its gardens became his favourite subjects, which he immortalised in numerous sun-drenched garden scenes. Fully committed to Neo-Impressionism, he captured the cheerful, summery atmosphere and the vastness of the castle grounds with delicate, precisely placed brushstrokes. The estate is still owned by the artist’s descendants today. | 1854 Merseburg - 1929 Pretzfeld | Moderne Kunst | Gemälde | Nummer: 26x2330 | Provenance: Nachlass des Künstlers; Kunsthaus Bühler, Stuttgart, verso auf der Keilrahmen mit dem Etikett; Privatsammlung, Baden-Württemberg.

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