Conrad Felixmüller Art for Sale at Auction

Painter, b. 1897 - d. 1977

(b Dresden, Germany 1897; d Berlin 1977) German painter. Born Conrad Felix Muller, Felixmuller joined the Dresden Academy in 1912. Several years later he made his way to Berlin where he began exhibiting his artwork and met several influential artists including Hannah Hoch. After the First World War, Felixmuller became increasingly involved in reformist politics and joined the Communist Party. Central to Felixmuller’s reformist political leanings was the idea that the bourgeoisie was corrupt and was responsible for the struggles of the laboring classes. His strong political beliefs shaped his highly expressive style of painting. In 1920 Felixmüller won the State Prize of Saxony and chose to use his winnings to live among the working class miners of an area in Germany known as the Ruhr. Felixmuller’s art was heavily influenced by the working-class struggles of post-war, industrial Germany and the workers of the Ruhr. During the Second World War Felixmuller’s paintings were exhibited in the 1937 Nazi “Degenerate Art” show. From 1949 to 1961, Felizmuller taught drawing and painting at the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany. He exhibited widely until his death in 1997 in places such as Florence, Paris, and Rome.