Editing Emil Nolde

{{Short description|German painter}}
{{Infobox artist
| name          = Emil Nolde
| image         = WP Emil Nolde.jpg
| image_size    = 200px
| caption       = Nolde in 1929
| birth_name    = Hans Emil Hansen
| birth_date    = {{birth date |1867|8|7|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Burkal Parish|Nolde]], [[Province of Schleswig-Holstein]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[North German Confederation]]
| death_date    = {{death date and age |1956|4|13|1867|8|7|df=y}}
| death_place   = {{ill|Seebüll|de}}, [[Schleswig-Holstein]], [[West Germany]]
| nationality   = [[Germany|German]]-Danish
| known_for     = [[Painting]], [[printmaking]]
| training      =
| movement      = [[Expressionism]]
| notable_works = {{Nowrap|''Lesende junge Frau'' (1906) <br> ''Blumengarten (ohne Figur)'' (1908) <br> ''Blumengarten (Utenwarf)'' (1917) <br> ''Blumen und Wolken'' (1933)}}
| patrons       =
| awards        = 
| signature     = Nolde autograph.png
}}

'''Emil Nolde''' (born '''Hans Emil Hansen'''; 7 August 1867 – 13 April 1956) was a German painter and [[printmaker]]. He was one of the first [[expressionism|Expressionists]], a member of [[Die Brücke]], and was one of the first [[oil painting]] and [[watercolor]] painters of the early 20th century to explore color. He is known for his brushwork and expressive choice of colors. Golden yellows and deep reds appear frequently in his work, giving a luminous quality to otherwise somber tones. His watercolors include vivid, brooding storm-scapes and brilliant florals.

Nolde's intense preoccupation with the subject of flowers reflected his interest in the art of [[Vincent van Gogh]].

Even though his art was included in the [[Degenerate Art Exhibition|''Entartete Kunst'' exhibition]] of 1937, Nolde was a member of the [[nazi party]], a [[racist]], an [[anti-semite]] and a staunch supporter of [[Nazi Germany]].<ref>[https://www.deutschlandfunk.de/diskussion-um-ns-verstrickung-nolde-die-nazis-und-das-100.html Nolde, die Nazis und das Kanzleramt, Deutschlandfunk, 29 March 2019 (German)]</ref>

==Early life==
Emil Nolde was born as Hans Emil Hansen, near the village of [[Burkal Parish|Nolde]] (since 1920 part of the municipality of [[Burkal]] in [[Southern Jutland]], [[Denmark]]), in the [[Prussia]]n [[Duchy of Schleswig]]. He grew up on a farm. His parents, devout Protestants, were [[Danes|Danish]] and [[Frisia]]n peasants. He realized his unsuitability for farm life, and that he and his three brothers were not at all alike. 

Between 1884 and 1891, he studied to become a [[Woodworking|woodcarver]] and [[illustrator]] in [[Flensburg]], and worked in furniture factories as a young adult. He spent his years of travel in [[Munich]], [[Karlsruhe]] and [[Berlin]].In 1889, he gained entrance into the School of Applied Arts in Karlsruhe.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kettererkunst.com/bio/EmilNolde-1867-1956.php|title=Emil Nolde – Biography and Offers – Buy and Sell|website=www.kettererkunst.com|access-date=1 December 2019}}</ref> He was a drawing instructor at the school of the Museum of Industrial and Applied Arts (''Industrie- und Gewerbemuseum''; today the ''Textilmuseum'', or Textile Museum) in [[St. Gallen]], Switzerland, from 1892 to 1898.<ref>"Emil Nolde", ''Encyclopedia of World Biography''. Detroit: Gale, 1998. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database 27 September 2016.</ref> He eventually left this job to finally pursue his dream of becoming an independent artist. 

==Career==
As a child, he had loved to paint and draw; however, he was already 31 by the time he pursued this new career. When he was rejected by the [[Munich Academy of Fine Arts]] in 1898, he spent the next three years taking private painting classes, visiting Paris, and becoming familiar with the contemporary impressionist scene that was popular at this time. He married Danish actress Ada Vilstrup in 1902, and moved to Berlin, where he would meet collector Gustav Schiefler and artist [[Karl Schmidt-Rottluff]], both of whom would advocate his work later in life. From that year, he named himself after his birthplace.

He became a member of the revolutionary expressionist group [[Die Brücke]] (The Bridge), of [[Dresden]], in 1906, upon the group's invitation. This association lasted only until the end of the following year.<ref name="NDB">Reuther, Manfred, "[https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/gnd118588494.html#ndbcontent Nolde, Emil]"{{in lang|de}}. In: ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' 19 (1999), p. 328-330 [online version].</ref> He was a member of the [[Berlin Secession]] from 1908 to 1910, but was then excluded owing to a disagreement with the leadership.<ref name="NDB"/> In Berlin, Nolde was strongly influenced by the collections of the [[Ethnological Museum of Berlin|Völkerkundemuseum]] in what was then Königgrätzer Straße, which he visited repeatedly and where he made over 120 drawings of exhibits from the Global South. His studies resulted in works such as ''Man, Woman and Cat'' (1912), in which Nolde depicted [[Ibrahim Njoya|King Njoya]]'s throne “Mandu Yenu”, which came to Germany from Cameroon under controversial circumstances, only slightly altered.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meyer |first=Andrea |title=Nicht wiederzuerkennen. Kulturgüter aus Kamerun in der deutschen Bildproduktion. In: Atlas der Abwesenheit: Kameruns Kulturerbe in Deutschland |date=2023 |publisher=Reimer Verlag |isbn=978-3-496-01700-4 |location=Heidelberg |pages=201–203 |language=de |trans-title=Unrecognizable. Cultural assets from Cameroon in German image production. In: Atlas of Absence: Cameroon's Cultural Heritage in Germany}}</ref> He exhibited with [[Wassily Kandinsky]]'s Munich-based group [[Der Blaue Reiter]] (The Blue Rider) in 1912; by this time he had achieved some fame, and was able to support himself through his art.<ref>Peters, Olaf. "Emil Nolde". In: Renee Price (Ed.), ''New Worlds: German and Austrian Art, 1890–1940''. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2001. {{ISBN|978-0-300-09446-6}}.{{page needed|date=September 2016}}</ref>

==Politics==
Nolde was a supporter of the [[Nazi Party|National Socialist German Workers' Party]] from the early 1920s, having become a member of its Danish section.<ref>Fulda, B., Soika, A., & Ring, C. (2019) ''Emil Nolde: The Artist during the Third Reich.'' Munich: Prestel</ref> He expressed anti-semitic, negative opinions about Jewish artists, and considered Expressionism to be a distinctively Germanic style.<ref>Jill Lloyd entry for Emil Nolde, ''Grove Dictionary of Art'' 1996.</ref> This view was shared by some other members of the Nazi party, notably [[Joseph Goebbels]] and [[Fritz Hippler]].

==Degenerate art==
However, [[Adolf Hitler]] rejected all forms of modernism as "[[degenerate art]]"; the Nazi regime officially condemned Nolde's work. Until that time, he had been held in great esteem in Germany. A total of 1,052 of his works were removed from museums, more than those of any other artist.<ref>Knubben, Thomas. ''Emil Nolde: Unpainted Pictures''. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Hatje Cantz Publishers, 2000. p. 141.</ref> Some were included in the [[Degenerate Art Exhibition|''Entartete Kunst'' exhibition]] of 1937, despite his protests, including (later) a personal appeal to Nazi ''[[Gauleiter]]'' [[Baldur von Schirach]] in Vienna. He was not allowed to paint—even in private—after 1941. Nevertheless, during this period he created hundreds of watercolors, which he hid. He called them the "Unpainted Pictures".

In 1942, Nolde wrote:

<blockquote>
There is silver blue, sky blue and thunder blue. Every color holds within it a soul, which makes me happy or repels me, and which acts as a stimulus. To a person who has no art in him, colors are colors, tones tones...and that is all. All their consequences for the human spirit, which range between heaven to hell, just go unnoticed.<ref>Quoted in ''Nolde: Forbidden Pictures'' [exhibition catalogue]. London: Marlsborough Fine Art Ltd., 1970. p. 9.</ref>
</blockquote>

==Post war==
After [[World War II]], Nolde was once again honoured, receiving the [[Pour le Mérite]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bestarts.org/artist/emil-nolde/ |title=Emile Nolde }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Orden Pour le Mérite für Wissenschaften und Künste |date=1978 |title=Die Mitglieder des Ordens. 2 1882–1952. |url=http://www.orden-pourlemerite.de/plm/mgvita/nolde1867_vita.pdf |location=Berlin |publisher=Gebr. Mann Verlag |page=398 |language=de |isbn=3-7861-1125-1}}</ref>

While acknowledging his success as a brilliant colourist, greater awareness of Nolde's commitment to Nazism and a discussion of the relationship between his politics, denunciation of non-Jewish adversaries as Jews, and his art is considered in more recent scholarship.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Fulda|first1=Bernhard|title=The Artist during the Third Reich|last2=Soika|first2=Aya|last3=Ring|first3=Christian|publisher=Prestel|year=2019|isbn=978-3-79135-894-9}}</ref> A recent exhibition (''Emile Nolde: A German Legend, The Artist during the Nazi Regime,'' Berlin National Gallery, 2019) examined Nolde's self-professed Nazi leanings, and the tendency of postwar art historians to downplay them.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Tooze|first=Adam|date=2019-11-25|title=To the Bitter End|language=en|volume=41|work=London Review of Books|issue=23|url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n23/adam-tooze/to-the-bitter-end|access-date=2021-09-06|issn=0260-9592}}</ref>

==Death==
He died in [[Seebüll]], now part of [[Neukirchen, Nordfriesland|Neukirchen]], in 1956. The [[Nolde Stiftung Seebüll]] (The Nolde Foundation at Seebull) was created the same year and opened a museum dedicated to his life and work in 1957.

==Body of work==
Apart from paintings, Nolde's work includes many prints, often in color, and [[watercolor]] paintings of varied subjects (landscapes, religious images, flowers, stormy seas and scenes from Berlin nightlife). A famous series of paintings covers the German [[New Guinea]] Expedition, visiting the [[South Sea Islands|South Seas]], [[Moscow]], [[Siberia]], [[Korea]], [[Japan]], and [[China]]. The Schiefler ''[[catalogue raisonné]]'' of his prints describes 231 [[etching]]s, 197 [[woodcut]]s, 83 [[lithograph]]s, and four [[hectograph]]s. He named a wartime series of 1300 works in watercolor on Japanese paper "[[Unpainted Paintings]]", made in the shadow of Hitler's decree.

==Religious motifs==
Although religious images make up a relatively small part of Nolde's artistic oeuvre, he considered some to be "milestones" with respect to his progression as an artist.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nolde|first=Emil|title=Das eigene Leben. Die Zeit der Jugend 1867–1902|year=1931|location=Berlin|pages=107}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Dieterich|first=Caroline|title=Emil Nolde: Retrospective|publisher=Prestel|year=2014|editor-last=Krämer|editor-first=Felix|location=Munich|pages=105–107}}</ref>

Nolde, who grew up a farmer's son in a small, religious community near the German-Danish border, was left with lasting impressions of Judeo-Christian stories after reading the Bible in its entirety.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nolde|first=Emil|title=Das eigene Leben. Die Zeit der Jugend 1867–1902|year=1945|edition=2nd expanded|location=Cologne|pages=29}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> In his early religious works (1900–1904), he was unable to solidify his own style and distinguish himself from several role models, [[Jean-François Millet]] and [[Honoré Daumier]].<ref name=":0" />

Nolde experienced a turning point in 1906; in that year, he shifted from an impressionistic style to a depiction of religious themes that emphasized the emotion of the moment, use of bright colors and only two dimensions of representation.<ref name=":0" /> This new devotion to religious artwork was hastened by a near death experience in 1909 after drinking poisoned water at the age of 42.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Nolde|first=Emil|title=Jahre der Kämpfe|year=1934|location=Berlin|pages=103–4}}</ref>
After 1911 Nolde's religious treatments—now including etchings—became darker and more ominous in tone than his previous works.<ref name=":0" /> Even his wife, Ada, was unnerved by his bold vision. In response to his nine-part ''The Life of Christ'', she wrote in a letter: "For the first few days I was only able to take a furtive peek now and then, so strong was the effect."<ref name=":0" /><ref>Ada Nolde to Luise Schiefler, February 1912, Archiv der Nolde Stiftung Seebüll</ref>

==Paintings==
<gallery widths="180" heights="180" perrow="4">
File:Brooklyn Museum - South Sea Islander (Südsee-Insulaner II) - Emil Nolde.jpg|"South Sea Islander" ''South Sea Islander (Südsee-Insulaner II)'', lithograph in colors, on wove paper, [[Brooklyn Museum]], 1915.
File:Ausstellung entartete kunst 1937.jpg|Photo of the [[Degenerate Art Exhibition]] in [[Haus der Kunst]] visited by [[Joseph Goebbels|Goebbels]] with two of Nolde's paintings (hanging left of the door), in Feb. 1938.
File:'The Prophet', woodcut by Emil Nolde, 1912.jpg|"The Prophet," [[woodcut]], 1912.
File:Emil Nolde, 1915, Die Grablegung (Begravelsen, The Burial), oil on canvas, 87 x 117 cm, Stiftung Nolde, Seebüll.jpg|"The Burial" (Die Grablegung), oil on canvas, 87 × 117&nbsp;cm, Stiftung Nolde, Seebüll, Nasjonalmuseet, [[National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design]], Norway, 1915.
File:Emil Nolde - 1909 - Wildly Dancing Children.jpg|"Wildly Dancing Children," oil on canvas, 1909.
File:EmilNolde-Blumengarten(ohne+Figur)1908.jpg|"Flower Garden" ''(without figure)'' (''Blumengarten, ohne Figur''), oil painting on canvas, 1908.
File:Nolde1907-KopfmitPfeife.jpg|"Head with Pipe (Self Portrait)," lithograph, 1907.
File:Emil Nolde - Clematis and Dahlia - 1940 (50370926968).jpg|"Clematis and Dahlia", 1940.
</gallery>

==Major works==
Nolde's work is exhibited at major museums around the world, including ''Portrait of a Young Woman and a Child'', ''Portrait of a Man'' (c. 1926), and ''Portrait of a Young Girl'' (1913–1914) at the [[Hermitage Museum]], Saint Petersburg, Russia; and ''Prophet'' (1921) and ''Young Couple'' (1913) at the [[Museum of Modern Art]], New York City.  His most important print, ''The Prophet'' (1912), is an icon of 20th-century art.

Among his most important oils are ''Lesende junge Frau'' (1906), ''Blumengarten (ohne Figur)'' (1908), and ''Blumen und Wolken'' (1933).<ref>Labedzki, Annette. "Emil Nolde – The German Expressionist Master of Darkness". Ezine Articles.</ref>

Other important works:
* ''Lesende junge frau'', 1906, oil on canvas, Kunsthalle Kiel
* ''Blumengarten (ohne Figur)'', 1908, oil on canvas, Sotheby's purchaser 8 February 2012
* ''Anna Wieds Garten'', 1907, oil on canvas, Private Collection
* ''Steigende Wolken'', 1927, oil on canvas, Karl-Ernst-Osthaus-Museum, Hagen
* ''Grosse Sonnenblumen'', 1928, oil on canvas, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
* ''Blumen und Wolken'', 1933, oil on canvas, Museum Sprengel, Hanover

In recent years, Nolde's paintings have achieved prices of several million US dollars, in auctions conducted by the leading international auction houses. On 8 February 2012, ''Blumengarten (ohne Figur)'' was sold by Sotheby's in London for US$3,272,673.<ref>Art Daily "[http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=53508 Sotheby's London Impressionist & Modern art evening sale totals $125,504,018]"</ref>

==Nazi-looted art==
Nolde's work has become the focus of renewed attention after a painting entitled ''Blumengarten (Utenwarf)''<ref>[http://www.artknowledgenews.com/2009-09-10-00-08-12-swedens-moderna-museet-reaches-settlement-with-heirs-of-stolen-emil-nolde-painting.html Painting and Press Release] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320145418/http://www.artknowledgenews.com/2009-09-10-00-08-12-swedens-moderna-museet-reaches-settlement-with-heirs-of-stolen-emil-nolde-painting.html |date=20 March 2012 }} in ''Art Knowledge News''</ref> from 1917, which now hangs in the art museum [[Moderna Museet]], [[Stockholm]], Sweden, and has been valued at US$4 million, was discovered to have been looted from [[Otto Nathan Deutsch]], a German-Jewish refugee whose heirs, including a [[Holocaust]] survivor, are asking for its return. The Swedish government decided in 2007 that the museum must settle with the heirs.<ref>Savage, James. "[http://www.thelocal.se/9849/20080201/ Stockholm museum in row over Nazi loot]". The Local, 1 February 2008.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Artdaily|title=Moderna Museet and the Heirs of Otto Nathan Deutsch Reach Settlement on Disputed Painting|url=https://artdaily.cc/news/33186/Moderna-Museet-and-the-Heirs-of-Otto-Nathan-Deutsch-Reach-Settlement-on-Disputed-Painting#.YLzN2eFR02w|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210429033336/https://artdaily.cc/news/33186/Moderna-Museet-and-the-Heirs-of-Otto-Nathan-Deutsch-Reach-Settlement-on-Disputed-Painting|archive-date=2021-04-29|access-date=2021-06-06|website=artdaily.cc|language=English|quote=STOCKHOLM.- The heirs of Otto Nathan Deutsch and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Sweden have settled a dispute regarding the fate of the painting Blumengarten (Utenwarf) from 1917 by the German expressionist artist Emil Nolde. The artwork disappeared in 1939, following Otto Nathan Deutsch´s flight from Germany to the Netherlands due to Nazi persecution. It resurfaced in the early 1960´s and was acquired in 1967 by then museum director Pontus Hultén on behalf of the Moderna Museet from Galerie Roman Norbert Ketterer in Lugano, Switzerland. In 1961, the German Government paid a compensation to the Deutsch family for the lost artwork which will now be returned by the family. Blumengarten (Utenwarf) is being purchased by a private European collector who will loan the painting to the Moderna Museet for up to five years, after which other seminal expressionist paintings from the early 20th century will be lent to the museum for another five years. Both the Deutsch heirs and the Moderna Museet are satisfied with the outcome of the matter, which was settled under the principles of the 1998 Washington Conference, which calls for a fair and just solution taking all relevant circumstances into consideration}}</ref> Deutsch was forced to flee Germany before World War II and left for [[Amsterdam]] in late 1938 or early 1939. The painting was sold to the Swedish museum at an auction in [[Switzerland]], where it had resurfaced in 1967.<ref>Hickley, Catherine. "[https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aACQMX.YcsVg&refer=muse Nazi Victim's Heirs Lose Patience With Sweden on Art (Update1)]". Bloomberg L.P., 29 January 2008.</ref>

In 2015, Nolde's ''Maiwiese (Maienwiese) [Meadow in May''], 1915, (Inv. Nr. 94) was restituted by the [[Lentos Art Museum]] in [[Linz]] to the heirs of Dr. [[Otto Siegfried Julius]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz - Provenance research|url=https://www.lentos.at/html/en/114.aspx|access-date=2021-06-06|website=www.lentos.at|quote=2015: Emil Nolde, Maiwiese (Maienwiese) [Meadow in May], 1915, (Inv. Nr. 94) to the heirs of Dr. Otto Siegfried Julius. The LENTOS is determined to do everything to make the provenance of its holdings as transparent as possible.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Linz restituiert Emil Noldes "Maiwiese" - Linz restitutes Emil Nolde's 'Meadow in May'|url=https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=QPUOK8781711|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809075734/https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=QPUOK8781711|archive-date=2016-08-09|access-date=2021-06-06|website=www.lootedart.com|publisher=Der Standard}}</ref>

In 2017 the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum Foundation restituted the painting “Women in a Flower Garden” by Emil Nolde to the heirs of Eduard Müller who was murdered in a Nazi concentration camp in 1942.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lehmbruck Museum |title=News: Restitution des Gemäldes "Frauen im Blumengarten" von Emil Nolde - Restitution of 'Women in Flower Garden' by Emil Nolde |url=https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=SJKPYO118921 |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=www.lootedart.com}}</ref>

In 2019 the city of Düsseldorf agreed to restitute Nolde's The Actress to the heirs of [[Curt Schueler]]. The painting had been acquired for Düsseldorf by [[Conrad Doebbeke]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=German City to Return Painting Stolen by Nazis to Owner's Heirs |url=https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=TQDWBO702041 |access-date=2025-01-29 |website=www.lootedart.com}}</ref>

In 2000 the [[Lehmbruck Museum|Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum]] Foundation, [[Duisburg]] rejected a restitution request from the family of the Breslau (Wroclaw) collector [[Ismar Littmann Art Collection|Dr. Ismar Littmann]] for Nolde's painting ''Buchsbaumgarten (Boxtree Garden'').<ref>{{Cite web|title=Provenance Research: Stiftung Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum Foundation, Duisburg)|url=https://www.lootedart.com/MFEU4D35361_print;Y|access-date=2021-06-06|website=www.lootedart.com}}</ref>

==See also==
* ''[[Sunflowers (Nolde)|Sunflowers]]''
* [[Unpainted Paintings]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Emil Nolde}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110725133757/http://www.museen-sh.de/ml/digicult.php?digiID=200.6881224&pid=&t=&s=2&sparte=&ps=1 Emil Nolde Selection from Museumsportal Schleswig-Holstein].
*[http://www.ludorff.com/ap/nolde/noldee.html Available Works & Biography] Galerie Ludorff, Düsseldorf, Germany.
*[http://www.nolde-stiftung.de/index.php?LANG=EN Emil Nolde Foundation, Seebüll, Germany].

{{Emil Nolde}}
{{Die Brücke}}
{{Degenerate art}}
{{Authority control (arts)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nolde, Emil}}
[[Category:Emil Nolde| ]]
[[Category:1867 births]]
[[Category:1956 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Aabenraa Municipality]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Schleswig-Holstein]]
[[Category:German Expressionist painters]]
[[Category:German people of Danish descent]]
[[Category:German modern painters]]
[[Category:19th-century German painters]]
[[Category:19th-century German male artists]]
[[Category:German male painters]]
[[Category:20th-century German painters]]
[[Category:20th-century German male artists]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Pour le Mérite (civil class)]]
[[Category:Académie Julian alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century German printmakers]]
[[Category:Nazi Party members]]