923 - Erich Krüger, Brocken view from Großer Birkenkopf, Harz landscape with mountain meadow, Harz painter

Erich Krüger, Brocken view from Großer Birkenkopf, Harz landscape with mountain meadow, Harz painter (1897 Berlin - 1978 Benzingerode), oil/canvas, signed lower right, view of the Brocken from the Großer Birkenkopf, in the foreground a sunny slope with grass and grey boulders, tall conifers and young deciduous trees on the left, on the right a mountain meadow with path and a group of rocks at the edge of the forest, wooded mountain ridges behind, in the background the blue-grey summit dome of the Brocken with small buildings on the top, bright sky with white clouds, good condition commensurate with age, image 48x58 cm (HxW), framed, frame width 7 cm Erich Krüger was born in Berlin in 1897 and studied at the art academy there under Bruno Paul; after the interruption caused by the First World War he continued his training under Professor Gärtner and Paul Müller-Kaempff. Until 1944 he worked as a freelance painter in Berlin, then his studio was destroyed in a bombing raid. He then settled in Benzingerode in the northern Harz near Wernigerode, where until his death in 1978 he painted mainly Harz landscapes and flower paintings. Many of his flower and landscape motifs were distributed as oleographs, and the Harzmuseum Wernigerode holds works by the Harz painter. The Brocken, at 1141 m the highest mountain in northern Germany, is the landmark of the Harz; today the Brockenhaus and a transmitter tower stand on its summit, and the Brocken Railway leads up to it.