4003 - Thilo Maatsch, Strenge Komposition

Thilo Maatsch, Strenge Komposition Composition of grey, red and white areas, gouache on paper, mid-20th century, signed ‘Thilo’ in the image, minor signs of wear, framed with a passe-partout and behind glass, passe-partout cut-out approx. 21 x 24.5 cm. Artist information: German painter, graphic artist and sculptor (1900 Braunschweig - 1983 Königslutter), developed an early enthusiasm for art, including a visit in 1916 to the Sturm Gallery featuring an exhibition by Franz Marc; initially self-taught in art, in 1918, together with Rudolf Jahns and Johannes Molzahn, founded the ‘Society of Friends of Young Art’ in Braunschweig, whose members included Lyonel Feininger and Paul Klee; Wassily Kandinsky supported the artist and designed the group’s logo, In 1918, he became friends with the art collector Otto Ralfs, 1919 and 1921: Visits to Heinrich Vogeler in Worpswede; from 1922: teacher training; from 1924: primary school teacher in Holzminden; whilst teaching, spent his holidays as a visiting student at the Bauhaus in Weimar and Dessau under Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, László Moholy-Nagy, William Wauer and Lothar Schreyer; around 1926, became a member of the ‘November Group’; 1926-32, regular participation in the ‘Great Berlin Art Exhibition’, 1927: solo exhibition at Herwarth Walden’s “Sturm-Galerie” in Berlin; member of the artists’ association “Die Abstrakten” in Berlin; 1934: expelled from the Reich Chamber of Fine Arts; 1933-45: ostracised as “degenerate” and barred from practising his profession; thereafter worked as a teacher; 1943-45: military service and captivity as a prisoner of war; subsequently returned to teaching, working in Königslutter; Source: Vollmer, Dressler and the internet.