Biography
Conrad Felixmüller (born Conrad Felix Müller, May 21, 1897 – March 24, 1977) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker, renowned for his vivid depictions of social life in early 20th-century Germany. He initially studied music before enrolling at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts in 1912 under Carl Bantzer. In 1917, he co-founded the Expressionistische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Dresden, and became known for his woodcuts, lithographs, and drawings infused with political and emotional intensity. A member of the German Communist Party from 1918 to 1922, Felixmüller actively contributed to leftist publications. He was a close friend of expressionist poet Walter Rheiner, whom he honored in his famous painting The Death of the Poet Walter Rheiner. By the mid-1920s, his work transitioned into the style of the New Objectivity, reflecting the reality of the Weimar Republic with more restraint. Labeled as degenerate art by the Nazis, many of his works were destroyed, and his Berlin studio was bombed in 1944. From 1949 to 1962, he taught at the University of Halle. Felixmüller passed away in Berlin-Zehlendorf, leaving behind a legacy deeply rooted in expressionism, social commentary, and artistic resistance.
Nationality