Oskar Zwintscher; 1870–1916 — A German artist who created paintings in the style of Symbolism, Modernism and Expressionism, often sufficiently dark, filled with a multitude of hidden symbols that had to be unraveled to fully understand the painting. He often imitated the manner of painting of old German masters, for example, Lucas Cranach the Elder, he sincerely hated Impressionism, his works were characterized by the abundance of small details and careful drawing. In addition to portraits and landscapes, Zvincher paid special attention to "symbolic paintings", depicting various mental states, for example, longing and grief, often sufficiently open, literally asking through the exposure of the body to reveal the soul of your characters.
Melody
Oskar was born into an intelligent family: Oskar's father was music professor Bruno Zwintscher, and his mother was not at all like a simple German housewife, whose life revolved only around the three K's (Kinder, Küche, Kirche - children, church and kitchen). However, painting attracted young Oskar more than music, so he entered the Leipzig Academy of Arts, where he studied with the portraitist Friedrich Leon Pole and the orientalist Ferdinand Poivels. Perhaps this is where his love and skill for painting various portraits came from, which he used to earn his living. Zwintscher settled in his native provincial town of Meissen, rented a small apartment with a wonderful view, set up a studio and lived there quietly for 10 years of his life, working as a freelance artist.
Red roofs. Meissen
He exhibited his paintings for the first time in 1874, and a year later he became acquainted with the work of the symbolist Arnold Böcklin, who made a strong impression on him. This is how to paint pictures that will be remembered by viewers, that will make them think about vital things, such as the theme of life and death, and that will be able to show the emotional states of a person in the most expressive way.
Melancholy
In 1903, Zwintscher moved to Dresden, got an honorable and well-paid position as a professor at the Dresden Academy of Painting, and settled in a mansion called the "White Deer". In general, life began to improve, there was no longer a need to think about earning money, as in his youth, when he did not disdain advertising illustrations.
Grief
One of Zvincher's most important paintings, "Grief", was painted in 1898. The artist's creative style is particularly evident here. Through a skillfully constructed composition: we do not see the face of the grieving man, the viewer often identifies with him, seeing the grieving man as a collective image rather than a specific person. A huge boulder lies on the man, symbolizing the weight of his loss and the suffering of life. And the already excessive weight of the boulder is exacerbated by Death itself, pressing with all its might with its hands of terrible bony fingers on the boulder that has crushed the man. Generally speaking, if a man's life was not a bed of roses before the death of his beloved, it becomes utterly ugly after the death of his beloved.
Portrait with yellow daffodils
Mirror Portrait
In general, the theme of death and extreme manifestations of human feelings was popular with Zwintscher, it is no coincidence that already in his mature years he painted himself in the company of death, clearly imitating the famous self-portrait of Böcklin.
Self-portrait with death
But Zwintscher changed a great deal, not only from Böcklin but also from the Pre-Raphaelites, for example from Dante Gabriel Rossetti, whose work he greatly admired. But he also added a lot of his own, and his paintings resembled a unique mixture of carefully drawn images in the spirit of the realists of the Dresden School and Zwintscher's own innovative vision based on the cultural code of the German nation. It is no coincidence that in Germany both men and women are allowed to enter the most prestigious and expensive public baths at the same time.
Gold and mother of pearl
In any case, Zwintscher's work is still relevant today, and the artist himself is deservedly recognized as one of the leading Symbolists in Germany.
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