Hermann Pleuer

Pleuer Dampf auslassende Lokomotive bei Nacht

Stuttgart Central Station in the Snow

Hermann Pleuer (5 April 1863, Schwäbisch Gmünd - 6 January 1911, Stuttgart) was a German Impressionist and landscape artist who is best known for his paintings of the Royal Württemberg State Railways.

Life

Pleuer was the son of a goldsmith. After initial studies at the Stuttgart School of Applied Arts (1879–1881) and the Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart (1881–1883) he completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich. In 1886, he returned to Stuttgart and led a bohemian life style,^[1] painting nudes and scenes from the local night life, until he became fascinated with industrial technology and the "Rausch der Geschwindigkeit" (Thrill of Speed),^[2] and turned to railway painting. His work was supported by a patron, Franz Baron von Koenig-Fachsenfeld (1866-1918) whose son, Reinhard von Koenig-Fachsenfeld, would become a well-known inventor and automotive engineer.

Pleuer died from tuberculosis at the early age of 47. There is a Hermann-Pleuer-Weg in Ostfildern and a Hermann-Pleuer-Straße in Stuttgart.

References

1. John Waltman: Die feinen Spuren der Erinnerung, Württembergs Eisenbahnmaler Hermann Pleuer und seine Welt feiert eine Wiederauferstehung im Maßstab 1:87, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, 4. Mai 2008, Seite V12
2. Doppelausstellung in den Galerien für Kunst und Technik, Bilder von Plauer und Modellbahnen, Stadt Schorndorf, 2006

Sources

• Gabriele Kiesewetter: Hermann Pleuer (1863–1911). Leben und Werk. Die Entdeckung der Geschwindigkeit, Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-8062-1411-5
• Roland Schurig: „Die Poesie der Schienenwelt so lebendig empfunden“ Der Impressionist Hermann Pleuer (1863–1911), Momente, Beiträge zur Landeskunde von Baden-Württemberg, 1/2007
• Stadt Aalen: Pleuer und die Eisenbahn, Stuttgart 1978, Ausstellungskatalog.
• Isabel Grüner: Impressionismus im deutschen Südwesten. Otto Reiniger, Hermann Pleuer, Heinrich von Zügel, Christian Landenberger. Kunststiftung Hohenkarpfen, Kunstverein Schwarzwald-Baar-Heuberg, Hausen ob Verena 1997, ISBN 3-93-056917-5.

External links

• ArtNet: Works by Pleuer
• Literature by and about Hermann Pleuer in the German National Library catalogue