2024-08-16 14:14:10
He is American, Republican and Swabian: Emanuel Leutze. The immigrant created one of his most important historical paintings in America, but his talent was not recognized in Germany. His birthplace now honors the photographer as an independent artist.
It was a classic aha moment. When entrepreneur Elon Musk opened his Tesla factory near Berlin in 2022, he published a picture of his bedside table. On it, as you can expect from a man like him, there are many handguns, Coca-Cola cans and, a little more sophisticated, a box with a copy of a picture from the 19th century on the inside of the lid.
“I know you from somewhere,” millions of Americans who saw this would have exclaimed, maybe even one or two Germans who were once in America. And in fact: this picture can be found in every American history book. There are three versions of the original, one of which is in the New York City Museum, where you can see the Mona Lisa.
What does the picture show? “Washington Crossing the Delaware.” That is also his title. In the dead of winter, surrounded by waves and snow currents, the general decided to cross the river in order to defeat the British enemy the next day: it was the first event of the American fight for freedom.
From Schwäbisch Gmünd to Philadelphia
But the wonderful picture was taken in Düsseldorf, in 1851. At that time, unlike today, Düsseldorf was not just a city. It was the home of the most fashionable art academy of the time. Students from all over the world study here. And so, ten years ago, the German-born Emanuel Leutze moved here from Philadelphia.
But this man was born on May 24, 1816 in Rinderbachergasse in Schwäbisch Gmünd. His parents were German immigrants from poverty, as Ferdinand Freiligrath, who later became Leutze’s close friend, immortalized them in 1833 in one of his most famous poems: “You difficult! Why did you leave there? / The Neckar valley has wine and grain.”
That may be true. It also applies to the valley of Rems, from which the Leutzes came. But wine and grain are not enough for many people. And political culture is often a harmless one.
In any case, Emanuel Leutze decided in 1863 to return to America with all his baggage and all his children and grandchildren: “My roses did not bloom in Germany,” he wrote to a friend as a farewell and confessed: “I ‘ I’m more of an American, a Republican. “
A message to the Germans
The story of Emanuel Leutze, who crossed the Atlantic seven times, who, as described by Freiligrath in his poem “The Emigrants”, driven by a longing for his Homeland, which quickly succeeded, became rule active in the run-up to the. The revolution of 1848, but… just then, and whose “Washington Crossing the Delaware” in 1851 also contained a message to the Germans, namely: “Go ahead! Don’t give up hope for change” – this story is not a story The only scam in Germany.
It is also a story of great neglect for a great artistic talent. Even the Prussians, who rejected his important war painting “The Return of Frederick II of Küstrin” in 1857 because it showed the “effeminate” crown prince who had abandoned his father and left himself at the feet your mother. Even the Prussians found in 1868 that Leutze was the most powerful man in the academy they had established in the “Rhine Region” and gave the son of a thief the position of director.
But it was too late. People, who are already sick, have to write. The fact that he still wasn’t able to experience his return when the “responsible years,” as Fontane called them, ended still hurts Leutze to this day. His historical pictures fell under the judgment of art history and were soon considered obsolete. However, his pictures, whose artistic quality is beyond any doubt, may herald a renewal for this sensitive artist.
And what city would be better for this than Leutze’s birthplace Schwäbisch Gmünd, whose Prediger museum houses the largest Leutze collection in the world. He has already made such an attempt in his anniversary year of 2016. Now, with the help of many loans from home and abroad, a second attempt is made with a focus on painting the picture.
What a cornucopia of wonderful, original works are poured out there. Intimacy, irony, wit, but also a sense of gnarly peculiarities speak to every work, be it just a drawing, a head study or a representative full-figure painting in oil. What a sophisticated light, what a virtuoso use of white clothes to illuminate the eyes. Yellow Leutze jumps out at you, her red is so enticing that you want to touch it. And other colors also have a subtle touch of velor.
Leutze’s life size is three-quarters that of a Friedrich Wilhelm Hütz, for example, is amazing. No one will ever hear this name. But when you see him standing there, walking under his straw hat, in front of a forest landscape full of creeping plants, dressed in brown hair— brown-brown-brown-brown-brown-brown-brown-brown a brown color that smokes in one hand, a threatening rope in the other, then you can become afraid of something as if a lot has been revealed, almost anger. But the child’s face with a few smiling promises: Don’t worry, dear, it’s all a Mäschkerle (for non-Swabians: disguise)!
It’s a friendly picture. Like the exhibition as a whole, it has the title: “Good morning, much love”. Other images accompany the bedroom game from the group of friends, such that, after a good meeting the next day, whoever is the first to greet the other person with “Good morning, much love” can expect a gift from them. .
For photographers, the perfect gift is a picture of another person. Many pictures were created in this way among the people of Düsseldorf. Not only did they progress in politics, they also felt more than the status of the musicians of the time. They think free; it’s them. And it is from this spirit that Emanuel Leutze creates his works. Maybe our society is finally ready for this man?
“‘Hello, dear. Friend pictures of Emanuel Leutze”, until October 20, 2024, The Museum is Ecclesiastes
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