Comments on: Johannes Matthaeus Koelz: A Life Divided

Johannes Matthaeus Koelz: A Life Divided

plep — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 12:33:41 -0800

Johannes Matthaeus Koelz: A Life Divided. An artist who escaped to England from Nazi Germany. From the exhibition :-
'Koelz, a painter, was living in a small cottage in the Bavarian forest estate of Hohenbrunn. One morning he travelled to nearby Munich on a routine visit to police headquarters to renew his exit visa for a planned trip to Italy.'
'At some point during the following night Koelz instructed a young man from the local woodmill to take his major work - a triptych which had occupied him since the early 1930s and cut it into pieces. He left Hohenbrunn at dawn, arranging for his family to follow ... It was the first stop on a journey that would take them to England. '
'Meanwhile the state police had raided their home and interrogated family members left behind. They were searching for the painter and his triptych, a massive anti-war painting which not only questioned the horrors of war but also the rising power of the Nationalist Socialist Party and by implication, its leader, Adolf Hitler.'
'Thou Shalt Not Kill', Koelz's tryptych.
Timeline and artworks.

By: taz

taz — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 13:49:28 -0800

A fascinating story... with a bit of a mystery, and lots of life-is-stranger-than-fiction details - the police officer who was charged with arresting him had been saved by Koelz in in WWI, and so "turned his head" for 48 hours allowing him to escape. It would be quite wonderful if more pieces of the tripych were found... and even more wonderful if it were ever possible to learn the histories of the individual pieces that may have survived.

By: anastasiav

anastasiav — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 14:26:56 -0800

[this is good] Thank you, plep.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 16:26:48 -0800

very cool, plep. Thanks!

By: Asparagirl

Asparagirl — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 17:43:33 -0800

Cool cool cool. Thanks, plep!

By: troutfishing

troutfishing — Fri, 12 Dec 2003 18:16:07 -0800

Plep - thanks for this post. I'm not really sure why, but - given that I'm stuffed full of words - that's probably my deepest possible compliment.

By: madamjujujive

madamjujujive — Sat, 13 Dec 2003 08:26:54 -0800

Awesome finds, plep - thanks!