Selbstporträt, 1913
Maximilian Klewer
was born on December 7th in 1981 to a familiy of simple means. His father was a merchant and his mother worked as a seamstress. He was supposed to become a sign painter but after finishing his training he began studying art at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Barmen. In 1911 at the age of 30 he moved to Berlin and began his studies at the Königliche akademische Hochschule für die Bildenden Künste. From 1919 to 1943, Klewer was the director of the drawing class at the Academy which now posessed the name Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste.
Selbstbildnis Stargard, 1917
During the Second World War Klewer was conscripted to work as a paramedic. In 1943 a bombing raid targeted at Berlin lead to the destruction of some 170 of Klewer's works. Thankfully not all of the works had been stored in his Berlin apartement at the time and he managed to save 600. Together with his wife Hildegard Kasten, whom he had married in 1923, and their youngest of three children Klewer fled Berlin and settled in Frankfurt-Höchst. After the end of the war, the artist's family moved to Bad Soden am Taunus, where Klewer died in 1963 at the age of 82. By the time he died he had been nearly forgotten about in the art scene.
Some of Maximilian Klewer's works are being showcased at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt a.M. in Germany. If you are unable to see them live you can visit the digital collection here.
coded by Carolin Wenzel